Kermanshah, Iran, May 21 - Daye Saltaneh, mother of Farzad Kamangar, the young teacher who was hanged with four other Kurdish activists on 9 May in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison on the charge of acting against state security, in a message thanked all those who worked to try to save her son's life.

Ali Saremi
London, May 21 - The international community should support independent voices in Iran and "strongly condemn" the execution of political activists there, a leading international human rights group said.

"The Iranian judiciary is a tool in the hands of Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad to repress harshly peaceful protesters and political opponents", the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement posted on its website Thursday.

By CHIP CUMMINS
DUBAI—Three Americans, detained in Iran for the better part of a year after crossing into the country on foot from Iraq, met their mothers Thursday in a stage-managed appearance in Tehran, raising hopes the two men and one woman might soon be released.

 Brussels - The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek condemned the execution of five prisoners which took place on 9 May in Iran.

President Buzek said: "I was informed that five Kurdish prisoners - one of whom was a woman - were hanged in Iran on 9 May. They were convicted of various charges, including of being 'moharebs' or 'enemies of God' - a crime punishable by death under Iran's Islamic law.