- Iran’s top diplomat on Monday defended his country’s harsh anti-gay laws, which includes capital punishment for consensual same-sex sexual acts.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif cited “moral principles” when asked why Iran executes homosexuals.
- Zarif also decried the US and Israel for “violating human rights.”
- Six countries impose the death penalty for consensual same-sex sexual acts: Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Somalia.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday cited “moral principles” when asked why Iran executes homosexuals for their sexual orientation, as he also attacked the US and Israel for “violating human rights.”
At a press conference in the Iranian capital with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, Zarif was asked by Bild reporter Paul Ronzheimer about the death penalty for gay people in the Middle Eastern country.
“Our society has moral principles, and according to these principles we live,” Zarif responded. “These are moral principles regarding the behaviour of people in general. And that’s because the law is upheld and you abide by laws.”
In late January, a 31-year-old man was publicly hanged in Iran after being found guilty of violating the country’s anti-gay laws, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Read the article by John Haltiwanger in Business Insider Australia.