Ruhollah Zam Execution: Four European Countries Withdraw from Iran Forum

Four European countries have withdrawn from an online business forum in the Iranian capital, Tehran, following the execution of an Iranian opposition journalist.

The ambassadors boycotting the forum, scheduled for Monday, are from France, Germany, Italy and Austria.

Organisers of the forum later said they were postponing the event.

It comes amid a growing diplomatic row between Iran and European countries over the killing of Ruhollah Zam.

Zam had been accused of using a messaging app to stir up dissent.

The journalist had been granted asylum in France after documenting mass protests in Iran in 2017 on his online news feed. He was later captured in Iraq and taken to Iran. He was hanged on Saturday.

France called the execution “barbaric and unacceptable” and said it ran counter to Iran’s international obligations. The EU also strongly condemned the killing “in the strongest terms”.