Iran summons German envoy for condemning execution

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran on Monday summoned German envoy Hans-Udo Muzel for his embassy's criticism of the recent execution of wrestler Navid Afkari.

The official IRNA news agency quoted a senior official at the Iranian Foreign Ministry as saying that the comments were "interference in Iran's internal affairs."

The German embassy in Tehran should "recognize the limits of its diplomatic duties, and not go beyond them," it said.

The embassy, on its Twitter account on Sunday, said it was “deeply shocked” by the execution, and that “it is not acceptable that basic legal rights be ignored in order to silence dissenting voices."

Iran executed Afkari, 27, in the southern city of Shiraz on Saturday, despite global outcry.

In 2018, he participated in protests over economic hardship and political repression. He was sentenced to death for murdering a security guard during the unrest.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara