05 May 2011 :

the EU's foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, condemned the public execution of juvenile offenders in Iran and urged Tehran to halt the use of the death penalty. "I deplore the public execution of four young men in Bandar Abbas, Iran, last week. At least two of the men were under 18 at the time of their alleged offences," Ashton said, adding that this contravened Iran's obligations under international child rights agreements. The European Union has already expressed concern "over the alarming rate of executions in Iran this year", Ashton also said in a statement. "I reiterate the EU's call on Iran to declare a moratorium on the death penalty in line with the growing global trend towards abolition of this punishment," she said.