A Dutch foreign ministry spokesperson has said that Iranian Ambassador Kazem Gharib Abadi has appeared after all to provide an explanation about the funeral of the Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami. The spokesperson refused to provide any details about what was discussed during the meeting.

A previous meeting on Monday between the Iranian ambassador and the foreign ministry's highest civil servant failed to provide satisfactory answers. When the ambassador was summoned a second time on Monday he did not turn up and could not be reached.

The Netherlands recalled its ambassador from Tehran on Monday after he was snubbed by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. He was told he was welcome, but when he visited the ministry the door remained closed.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated last week when Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami was unexpectedly executed. On Sunday, the authorities buried her body without properly informing her relatives. The Dutch ambassador in Tehran was trying to have her body released on the family's behalf.

Dutch political parties fear that rumours of Ms Bahrami possibly having died of torture rather than hanging may bear some truth because of the secret burial. MPs also believe she was a political prisoner because the bodies of political prisoners are often not released. The Iranian authorities insist she was executed for a drugs offence.

(gsh)

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide