TEHRAN — European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso added his voice on Tuesday to the international condemnation of Iran for the decision to sentence a woman to death by stoning.
Referring to the case of Sakineh Moham madi-Ashtiani, convicted of adultery and accused of involvement in her husband’s murder, Barroso said: “This is barbaric beyond words.”
“In Europe we condemn such acts, which have no justification under any moral or religious code,” Barroso said during a keynote speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, where his words were broken up by applause.
In the face of international pressure, Iranian authorities have suspended the stoning sentence but have also denounced what they see as foreign meddling in their internal affairs.
