Josep Borrell Strongly Condemns the Execution of Habib Asiyud in Conversation with Amir-Abdollahian

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, tweeted on Monday that he had a phone conversation with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's Foreign Minister. He stated that during this conversation, he strongly condemned the execution of Habib Asiyud and called for a halt to the execution of Jamshid Sharmard. Borrell's tweet mentioned that cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the necessity for Tehran to end its support for Moscow in the war against Ukraine, and the instrumental use of EU citizens were other topics of discussion. This tweet was published hours after two Iranian citizens, Youssef Mehrad and Sadrallah Fazeli-Zarei, were executed on charges of 'insulting the Prophet' and 'apostasy.' The EU, several European countries, human rights organizations, and a number of prominent opponents of the Islamic Republic condemned the execution of Habib Asiyud on Sunday. Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Islamic Republic's judiciary announced on Wednesday morning that the Supreme Court had confirmed the death sentence of Jamshid Sharmard. Ghazaleh Sharmard, Jamshid Sharmard's daughter, stated in an interview with Voice of America that there is no way to contact her father and she can only follow events through the news. The EU condemned the execution of Habib Asiyud 'in the strongest terms,' and several prominent opponents of the Islamic Republic condemned the execution. Reactions to the execution of Habib Asiyud included statements from the Iran Human Rights Organization describing it as 'extrajudicial killing' and 'terrorist act.'