UN Security Council Condemns Myanmar Executions

FILE - Phyo Zeya Thaw arrives at the Myanmar parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Phyo Zeya Thaw arrives at the Myanmar parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo, File)
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UN Security Council Condemns Myanmar Executions

FILE - Phyo Zeya Thaw arrives at the Myanmar parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Phyo Zeya Thaw arrives at the Myanmar parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo, File)

The UN Security Council has condemned the Myanmar junta's execution of four prisoners, drawing praise Thursday from a shadow government of ousted Myanmar lawmakers.

In a rare consensus on the post-coup crisis, the Security Council on Wednesday released a statement condemning the executions -- Myanmar's first in decades -- and calling for the immediate release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, AFP said.

"The members of the Security Council condemned the Myanmar military’s execution of opposition activists over the weekend," the Council said.

"They recalled the Secretary-General's statement of 25 July 2022 and echoed his call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners."

The statement was endorsed by Russia and China -- the junta's two major allies that have previously shielded it at the UN -- as well as neighboring India.

"Welcome UN Security Council condemning execution of democracy activists", said the "National Unity Government" (NUG) on a verified Twitter account.

It was time for the council to "take concrete actions against the junta, it added.

The NUG -- dominated by lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi's ousted party -- has been working to topple the coup and been declared a "terrorist" organization by the junta.

The executions announced Monday sparked condemnation from around the globe, heightened fears that more will follow and prompted calls for sterner international measures against the already-isolated junta.

Among the four executed were Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and veteran democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu -- better known as "Jimmy".

Both were sentenced to death under anti-terrorism laws.

The junta is increasingly isolated on the world stage, with Cambodian leader Hun Sen the only head of state to have visited since the coup that plunged the country into turmoil.

The Cambodian PM had also made a personal request to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing not to go ahead with the executions.

Myanmar's junta has lashed out against international condemnation of its use of capital punishment, saying the four executed prisoners "deserved many death sentences".



Iran, UK, France, Germany to Hold Nuclear Talks on Friday

Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran, UK, France, Germany to Hold Nuclear Talks on Friday

Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran will hold nuclear talks in Rome on Friday with Britain, France and Germany, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday, with the aim of improving strained ties at a time of high-stakes nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.
The meeting will precede a fourth round of nuclear talks this weekend between Iran and the United States, also to be held in Italy.
"In my opinion, the three European countries have lost their role (in the nuclear file) due to the wrong policies they have adopted. Of course, we do not want this and are ready to hold talks with them in Rome," Araqchi told state media.
Reuters reported on Monday that Tehran had proposed meeting the European countries, collectively known as the E3, which are parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
E3 political directors confirmed they would meet with Iran on Friday.
Trump has threatened to attack Iran unless it agrees to a new nuclear deal. Iran has far exceeded the 2015 agreement's curbs on its nuclear program since the United States withdrew, and the European countries share Washington's concern that Tehran could seek an atomic bomb. Iran says its program is peaceful.
A UN Security Council resolution ratifying the 2015 accord expires in October, and France's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris would not think twice about re-imposing international sanctions if negotiations fail to reach a deal.
"These sanctions would permanently close off Iranian access
to technology, investment, and the European market, with devastating effects on the country's economy," Jean-Noel Barrot said.
Iran's UN representative responded: "If France and its partners are truly seeking a diplomatic solution, they must stop threatening."
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on what it described as a network based in Iran and China accused of procuring ballistic missile propellant ingredients for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Araqchi said US sanctions during negotiations sent the "wrong message".
Trump has said he is confident of clinching a new pact that would block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb.