Iran hangs Dutch woman held in 2009

An Iranian-Dutch woman,arrested after taking part in anti-government protests in Iran.

An Iranian-Dutch woman,arrested after taking part in anti-government protests in Iran in 2009,has been hanged for drug smuggling,the semi-official Mehr news agency said on Saturday.

A woman smuggler named Zahra Bahrami,daughter of Ali,has been hanged today for the possession and selling of narcotics, Mehr reported,quoting the court.

The 45-year-old womans daughter was quoted by the rights group International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran as saying the drug charges were fabricated after Bahrami was arrested for taking part in protests against Irans disputed presidential election in December 2009.

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Mehr reported that she had been found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Iran from the Netherlands and was found with 450 grams of the drug in her possession.

Following reports of the execution,the Dutch Foreign Minister summoned Irans ambassador on Saturday.

The Foreign Ministry was not immediately able to independently confirm reports in Iran that Zahra Bahrami had been executed,Foreign Ministry spokesman Bengt van Loosdrecht said.

Iranian state television reported she was hanged Saturday. The report said that initially Bahrami was arrested for committing security crimes, but it did not say what became of that case.

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Protesters took to the streets in 2009 after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads re-election,saying the vote was marred by fraud and that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was the rightful winner.