The group of eight industrialized nations (G8) has ‘deplored’ post-election violence in Iran, calling for ‘democratic dialogue’ to end the turmoil.

“We deplore post-electoral violence which led to the loss of lives of Iranian civilians,” the G8 foreign ministers said in a draft statement, AFP reported on Friday.
They also urged Iran “to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression” and said that the crisis should be settled through “democratic dialogue and peaceful means.”
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who presented the declaration, however, maintained that the group did not want to interfere with Iran’s internal affairs.
Following the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12, Iran became the scene of rallies with defeated presidential hopefuls Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejecting the election result as fraudulent and demanding a re-run.
Tehran has summoned ambassadors from Britain, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Canada to warn them against “interfering” in the internal affairs of the country.
The meeting of the G8 foreign ministers, which convened in Trieste in northeastern Italy, was held to discuss the means to restore security to Afghanistan.
While Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had been invited to the meeting, he did not participate.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi explained on Wednesday that Iran would be absent from the meeting as ‘certain preparations had not been made to ensure the optimum level of achievement in the
(Source: Press TV)