Iran Summons Swiss Envoy Over Social Media Post Critical of Recent Executions
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador on Sunday after the Swiss Embassy uploaded a post to Twitter on Friday critical of Iran’s treatment of protesters.
In the post, the embassy condemned the recent execution of three Iranians who had been involved in the anti-government protests that broke out last September. It featured a photo of protesters holding a picture of Mahsa Amini, the Iranian woman whose death sparked the protests. Amini was killed in police custody after being arrested for not wearing a hijab. The photo also showed protesters holding Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag, which was in use before the country became a theocracy.
وزارت خارجه #سوئیس اعدام صبح امروز سه مرد در #ایران را، در رابطه با اعتراضاتِ متعاقبِ مرگ مهسا امینی در سپتامبر ۲۰۲۲ ، شدیداً محکوم مینماید.
🇨🇭 مؤکداً از ایران میخواهد تا این اعدامها را متوقف کرده و در راستای کاهش استفاده از حکم #اعدام قدم بردارد. pic.twitter.com/jqjaKiH9yB— Swiss Embassy Iran (@SwissEmbassyIr) May 19, 2023
According to the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency, representatives from the Foreign Ministry chastised Ambassador Nadine Olivieri Lozano for her use of a “fake” flag in her post. They described the Swiss Embassy’s post as “unconventional and unprofessional” and as an interference in Iran’s national affairs.
Iran has defended Friday’s execution, saying that those who were executed had been involved in an attack that killed three security officers.
In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said that Western politicians should address their own countries’ issues “instead of intervening in the internal affairs of other countries and presenting a seemingly humanitarian face.”
