The recent condemnation of the Iranian Human Rights defender Mrs Narges Mohammadi to ten years imprisonment is a worrying development.

Mrs Mohammadi has been working in a peaceful manner to improve human and women’s rights in Iran and for the gradual abolition of the death penalty.

The right to express opinion in a non-violent manner is at the very core of the universal declaration for Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.

The EU also calls on the Iranian authorities to take into account her deteriorating health conditions.