Iran Summons German Ambassador Protesting Berlin's Sentence Reaction
TEHRAN (News Agencies) - Iran summoned the German ambassador Saturday to express Tehran's "strong protests" against Germany's criticism of the heavy sentences handed down to Iranians who attended a controversial conference in Berlin.
Bahrami Ghassemi, head of the foreign ministry's Western Europe department, expressed to German Ambassador Ruediger Reyel his government's "strong protests ... after Germany's taking of positions that go against the development of relations between the two countries," the state news agency IRNA said.
Ghassemi also accused Germany of "interfering in Iran's internal affairs."
For his part, Reyel expressed "his country's desire to preserve relations with Iran and to prevent any incident that could hinder their development," the agency said.
Ten Iranian reformists, including maverick journalist Akbar Ganji, were sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on January 13th for attending the Berlin conference, staged in April by a foundation with links to Germany's Greens party, centered on the future of political reforms in Iran.
The gathering, disrupted by the Iranian opposition-in-exile, was deemed "un-Islamic" in part because a man disrobed in protest and a woman danced with bare arms. The footage was shown on state television here.
The day after the sentencing, Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador to express "deep concern," foreign ministry state secretary Wolfgang Ischinger said.
Tehran then warned Germany to "treat this matter wisely in order to avoid damaging bilateral relations."
