Ruhollah Zam speaking during his trial at Iran's Revolutionary Court in Tehran. AFP
Ruhollah Zam speaking during his trial at Iran's Revolutionary Court in Tehran. AFP
Ruhollah Zam speaking during his trial at Iran's Revolutionary Court in Tehran. AFP
Ruhollah Zam speaking during his trial at Iran's Revolutionary Court in Tehran. AFP

EU envoys pull out of Iranian business convention after execution of journalist Rouhollah Zam


Simon Rushton
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European envoys withdrew from an Iranian business forum as tension rises over the execution of dissident Iranian journalist Rouhollah Zam.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, and France after they denounced the death sentence.

France said the hanging was barbaric and unacceptable, and contrary to Tehran's international obligations.

The journalist was based in Paris before he was captured in Iraq and taken to Iran.

France said on Sunday that its ambassador to Iran would not take part in an online business forum in Tehran this week.

Envoys from Germany, Austria and Italy cancelled their involvement in the December 14 event, the French Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

At the end of its tweet, the ministry ran the hashtag #nobusinessasusual.

Jake Sullivan, US president-elect Joe Biden's national security adviser, tweeted his dismay at the execution and what he called a horrifying human rights violation.

Organisers of the Europe-Iran business forum said they were postponing the event.

Zam was hanged on Saturday after Iran's Supreme Court upheld a death sentence passed in June for his role in protests during the winter of 2017-2018, among other charges.

At least 25 people were killed during the unrest in December 2017 and January 2018 that was sparked by economic hardship.

The journalist's father, Mohammad Zam, a cleric who served in high-ranking government positions in the 1980s, said he met his son a day before his execution, which the condemned man was not told had been confirmed.

He was executed four days after the Supreme Court ruling. Amnesty International said that was aimed at pre-empting an international campaign to save Zam's life.

Mr Zam said that after the arrest, his son was not allowed to see family or lawyers for nine months and was permitted to meet only a court-appointed lawyer under the supervision of security personnel.

His claims were reported by Amnesty International.

Also on Sunday, Iranian media reported the sentencing of Kameel Ahmady, an ethnic Kurd British-Iranian anthropologist, to nine years in prison for subversive research.

His work included studies on child marriage and female genital mutilation.

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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