Tehran Summons Swiss Envoy for Tweet Denouncing Protesters’ Execution

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran for a Twitter post condemning the execution of protesters last week, local media reported.

“The Foreign Ministry of Switzerland strongly condemns the execution of three men in Iran this morning in connection with the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022,” the Swiss embassy said on its official Twitter account on May 19..

Switzerland “strongly calls on Iran to stop these executions and take steps to reduce the use of the death penalty,” it added.

The embassy also posted a picture showing demonstrators with a portrait of Iranian protest icon Mahsa Amini and Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag before its current theocracy came to power.

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

Fars news agency, which is closely associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on May 21 that the Swiss ambassador, Nadine Lozano, was summoned over the Swiss embassy's "interventionist stance" in Iran's internal affairs and its use of a photo featuring a "fabricated flag." 

Iranian authorities have cracked down hard on months-long nationwide protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Amini while in police custody, and accused Western powers of fomenting unrest in Iran, without providing evidence.

More than 520 people were killed during demonstrations and over 20,000 others were unlawfully detained, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary has handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.

On May 9, three protesters were executed in Isfahan after the authorities held rushed trials, pushed the accused into forced “confessions" and denied them due process, sparking an outcry both inside and outside Iran.