Germany summons Iran's ambassador over execution of ex-top Iranian politician

BERLIN (AA) - Berlin summoned Tehran's ambassador over the execution of British-Iranian ex-top politician Alireza Akbari on charges of espionage in Iran for Britain.

"I can confirm that the Iranian ambassador was called to the Foreign Office today for a meeting," German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin.

Great Britain, France, and Germany had sharply criticized the execution of the death sentence over the weekend. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock strongly condemned the execution as another inhumane act by the Iranian leadership.

According to the Iranian justice portal Mizan, Akbari was executed on Saturday. He had been sentenced to death in an espionage trial for leaking secrets. Akbari and his family have denied the allegations.

In related news, Burger did not rule that the possibility that Baerbock would also address the issue of massive human rights violations by the Iranian regime when she visits the International Criminal Court in The Hague later in the day.

The spokesman also said he could imagine that the question of the accountability of those responsible in Iran for human rights violations could play a role when she speaks at the court.

In November, the UN Human Rights Council voted to condemn the crackdown on peaceful protests in Iran and create an independent fact-finding mission to investigate alleged abuses, particularly those committed against women and children.

A resolution put forward by Germany and Iceland was backed by 25 countries, including the US and many European, Latin American, Asian, and African nations. Six countries opposed the move – China, Pakistan, Cuba, Eritrea, Venezuela, and Armenia – while 16 abstained.

The UN's top human rights official had earlier urged Iran's government to halt the repression against protesters, but Tehran's envoy at a special Human Rights Council on the country's "deteriorating" rights situation was defiant and unbowed, blasting the initiative as "politically motivated."

The protests were triggered by the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating a strictly enforced Islamic dress code.