(Adnkronos) – Italy is “deeply concerned” at the violent crackdown in Iran against nationwide anti-government protests that erupted on 28 December, in which rights groups claim over 1,000 people have likely been killed and over 10,700 have been arrested, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
“We are deeply concerned about what is happening,” Tajani told leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview.
“We are exerting pressure in every way possible to ensure that human rights are respected, the death penalty is not applied and the moratorium requested by the United Nations is adhered to,” he continued.
It was “unacceptable that so many young people are being condemned for their only ‘crime’ of demonstrating for freedom,” Tajani said.
“We also hope for a peaceful solution between the internal factions,” said Tajani.
“We believe that it is the Iranians who must decide their own destiny, in freedom and not amid violence and death,” he went on.
“If there were a humanitarian crisis like in Gaza and Sudan, we would be ready to give our full support,” Tajani underlined.
Tehran, which has not given an official death toll from the protests, has focused attention on the deaths of security forces and blamed the bloodshed on US ‘interference’ and ‘Israeli- and US-backed terrorists’.
Information on current events in Iran has been hampered by the government’s Internet blackout since 8 January.
The protests in Iran, initially sparked by the country’s dire economic situation, widened into opposition to clerical rule, involving diverse sectors of society.
The protests are seen as one of the gravest tests to clerical rule since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, but there are no signs of a splits in the Shia leadership, military or security forces. And opposition in the country is fragmented, with demonstrators lacking clear central leadership, according to observers.
