Iran:A call by Italy for Iran to immediately stop executions has boiled over into a diplomatic row, with Tehran accusing Rome of meddling in its internal affairs and Italy dismissing that as an exaggerated response.
The conflict between Italy, which is leading a push for a worldwide ban on the death penalty, and Iran, which has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, began last week when Rome expressed "strong anxiety" about recent hangings in Iran.
The Italian government told Iran's ambassador that it was particularly concerned that some people had been executed on charges of homosexuality and condemned death sentences passed on two Kurdish journalists last week.
A spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry retorted by saying Italy should not interfere in its internal affairs - in turn prompting the Italian deputy foreign minister to say Rome was not meddling but driven by a "battle of principle".
"Iran is a country that abuses the death penalty and negates fundamental freedom," Gianni Vernetti, Italy's foreign undersecretary responsible for Asia was quoted by Corriere della Sera as saying. "In this context, it is a right and duty to raise one's voice."
The number of executions in Iran doubled to at least 177 last year, according to rights group Amnesty. Before the latest executions in July and August, Amnesty had said that at least 124 people had been put to death so far in 2007.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said: "Every independent nation, based on its own internal laws, will prosecute criminals who have been convicted of a crime."
Italy has long advocated a ban on the death penalty and in May was mandated by the European Union to lead a push for a UN moratorium on the death penalty across the world.
Iran hanged four men for drug smuggling, murder and other crimes yesterday, Iranian media reported. Three were put to death in a jail in the southeastern city of Zahedan, while one was hanged in public in the northern town of Babolsar.
Last week, Iran sentenced two Kurdish journalists to death for mounting an "armed struggle against the system" and hanged 11 people, most of them in public, for the murder of a judge two years ago.
It also hanged 16 men convicted of rape and other offences on July 22nd, most of whom were arrested in a crackdown on "immoral behaviour" which began in April. Homosexuality is among the "crimes" punishable by death in Iran, which has implemented Islamic Sharia law since the 1979 revolution.
Some 99 countries ban capital punishment while 69 still use it. Six countries - China, Iran, Iraq, the United States, Pakistan and Sudan - account for about 90 per cent of the total, and China the bulk of these.
- (Reuters)