France, other European countries withdraw from business forum over execution

Islam News – France said on Sunday its ambassador to Iran would not participate in an online business forum in Tehran this week, in a growing row between Iran and European nations over the execution of Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, according to  Reuters agency.

Other envoys from Germany, Austria and Italy were also cancelling their involvement in the Dec. 14 event, the French foreign ministry said on Twitter. At the foot of its tweet, the ministry ran the hashtag #nobusinessasusual.

In a separate statement, organisers of the Europe-Iran business forum later said they were postponing the event.

Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the envoys from France and from Germany, current holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency, to protest over French and EU criticism of the execution on Saturday, Iranian media reported.