UK Summons Iran's Top Envoy Over Execution Of Iranian Protester

UK Summons Iran's Top Envoy Over Execution of Iranian Protester

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly summoned Iran's highest-ranking diplomat over the execution of a protester in Iran, the UK government said on Friday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2022) UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly summoned Iran's highest-ranking diplomat over the execution of a protester in Iran, the UK government said on Friday.

On Thursday morning, media reported on the execution by Iranian authorities of Mohsen Shekari, who wounded a security guard with a knife during mass protests in Tehran in September. It was the first known execution connected to the ongoing protests in Iran.

"The Foreign Secretary instructed the FCDO to summon Iran's most senior diplomat after Iran carried out the first execution of a protestor since demonstrations began in September," the government said in a statement.

Cleverly called the executed man a "tragic victim of a legal system" and called on Iran to halt executions and violence against its citizens, the statement read.

Violent riots broke out in Iran in mid-September in connection with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody after being detained for wearing an "improper" hijab. Many Iranian citizens accused the morality police of Amini's death, alleging that law enforcement officers hit her in the head. The situation escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran's clerical ruler. Tehran believes the unrest has been instigated from abroad.