Iran says U.S., EU criticism of convicts' execution "meddlesome," "ridiculous"

TEHRAN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday dismissed the U.S. and EU criticism against Iran's execution of three convicts who killed security officers in an armed attack as "meddlesome" and "ridiculous."

"Instead of intervening in the internal affairs of other countries ... Western politicians had better listen to the voices of their own citizens' protests and meeting their demands," Nasser Kanaani said in a statement published on the ministry's website.

"Europe and the United States do not have the legal, judicial and moral authority to comment on judicial issues and human rights of other countries," he noted.

On Nov. 16, 2022, three men carried out an attack in the Khane Esfahan area of the central Iranian city of Isfahan, killing three security officers and injuring several others, according to the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary.

The three men were charged with crimes including those referred by Iranian authorities to violations agasint Islamic codes and breaches of national security, Mizan said.

In a statement on Friday issued in the wake of the execution, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU condemned the execution "in the strongest possible terms," calling on Iran to "refrain from applying the death penalty and carrying out future executions."

The U.S. State Department on Thursday urged Iran to refrain from carrying out the executions, calling the proceedings "sham trials."

"The execution of these men, after what have been widely regarded as sham trials, would be an affront to human rights and basic dignity in Iran and everywhere," said State Department Principal Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel at a press briefing.