Portugal calls Iranian ambassador to condemn repression of protests and executions
“The Iranian Ambassador in Lisbon [Morteza Damanpak Jami] it was today, January 10, called again to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was given the firmest testimony and repudiation of the Portuguese Government for the execution of two more Iranian citizens, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, who participated in the ongoing protests in Iran since September”, reads a statement from the ministry. by João Gomes Cravinho.
“The Portuguese Government expressed equally deep concern with the fact that other Iranian citizens have, in the meantime, been sentenced to capital punishment in that country. Portugal reiterates its unconditional opposition to the application of the death penalty in all circumstances”, adds the document .
Morteza Jami had already been called to the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 29, 2022, the day on which the Director General of Foreign Policy (DGPE) of the MNE, Rui Vinhas, expressed Lisbon’s tribute for the “necessary and disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators”.
The Lusa agency asked the Iranian embassy in Lisbon for a comment, but, so far, has not received any response.
With the ambassador’s call to Lisbon, Portugal joins a large part of the international community, especially the West, which has also condemned the arrests, death sentences and executions of demonstrators who protest against the theocratic regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The protests and demonstrations were triggered following the death, on September 16, 2022, of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini, arrested three days earlier by the costume police for clear misuse of the hijab, the Islamic headscarf, in violation of the code of clothing imposed by Iran.
In recent days, the United States, the European Union (EU) and more than a dozen European countries have also called on Iranian ambassadors or chargés d’affaires to protest and condemn the repression imposed by the Iranian authorities.
Iran has already had 18 death sentences and four executions since the protests began.
In addition, strong police repression to try to stop the demonstrations has so far resulted in more than 500 deaths and nearly 20,000 arrests across the country.
Authorities hanged Mohsen Shekari, 23, on December 8 for “wounding an Islamic militia guard (basiji) with a bladed weapon, blocking a street and creating terror in Tehran”.
Four days later, a second protester, Majid Reza Rahnavard, was publicly executed, convicted of killing two security agents.
Last Saturday, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini were executed for the alleged murder of an Islamic militia guard.
The European Union has already taken on three insurance packages against Iran for the executions and repression of demonstrators.
Countries such as France, United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands have also summoned Iranian ambassadors to their countries.