EU urges Iran to respect right to protest peacefully

France has urged Europe to threaten targeted sanctions against the Iranian regime over the case of a woman sentenced to be stoned to death, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's office said Friday.Kouchner has written to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to call for a joint letter from all 27 member states to Tehran, warning against the execution of 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on authorities in Bahrain on Thursday to respect the right of citizens to protest peacefully following a deadly crackdown.

The European Union's foreign policy chief said Friday the EU was about to reject "practices of another age", after a woman was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran.France urged the European Union earlier Friday to threaten Iran with new sanctions over the case of 43-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, despite Tehran's warning to the West not to interfere.Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wrote to foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to call for all 27 member states to warn Tehran not to execute her, in a letter seen by AFP.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton condemns Iran's hanging of a Dutch-Iranian woman for drug smuggling and urges Tehran to halt all executions, her spokeswoman said Monday.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was in China Tuesday ahead of talks with top leaders on trade, climate change and security issues such as the Iran and North Korea nuclear standoffs.Ashton, who visited the World Expo in Shanghai on Monday, will take part in the inaugural EU-China High-Level Strategic Dialogue in the southwestern city of Guiyang on Wednesday, according to the EU.

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday pleaded with Iran to drop death sentences imposed on two people awaiting execution for being 'enemies of God'.The call came after five militants were hanged for similar offences on Sunday, a decision Ashton said the EU "strongly condemns."Ashton urged Tehran to "consider alternative sentences" for a woman and a man each convicted of being 'moharebs' or 'enemies of God' -- a crime punishable by death under Iran's Sharia-based Islamic law.

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urged Iran on Tuesday to stop the execution of three people including a woman who faces death by stoning for adultery.