Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis on Wednesday referred directly to the worrying situation in Iran, stressing that “any form of violence, especially when it results in the loss of human lives, is abhorrent and utterly reprehensible.”

Gerapetritis spoke during joint statements in Athens with the visiting Dutch minister of asylum & migration and foreign affairs, David van Weel, by his side.

Greece’s top diplomat also called on the Iranian regime, as he characteristically said, “to refrain from imposing and executing penalties against protesters demonstrating for freedom…The death penalty against young people, as a result of exercising a universal right, is an outrage that is unacceptable for the international community. We call for complete abstention from any such action.”

Gerapetritis’ comments in greeting are here