Germany's foreign minister has made a brief visit to Tehran to meet Iranian officials and bring home two German journalists released from four months in Iranian custody in connection with a highly-publicized stoning case.
Guido Westerwelle arrived in the Iranian capital Saturday and departed hours later for Berlin with the journalists Marcus Hellwig and Jens Koch.
In October Iranian authorities arrested the two men employed by German weekly Bild am Sonntag after they traveled to the northwestern city of Tabriz to interview the son of a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.
The journalists were convicted of violating Iran's national security and sentenced to 20 months in prison. Iranian authorities also accused them of engaging in journalistic work in violation of the tourist visas they used to enter Iran.
An Iranian court released the two Germans Saturday after commuting the sentences to fines of $50,000 each. It said they deserve “Islamic compassion.” Iranian authorities flew the men from Tabriz to Tehran, where they met the German foreign minister before departing for Germany.
Prior to leaving Iran, Westerwelle held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
In a news conference after the meetings, the German foreign minister thanked them for their efforts to promote bilateral relations. Westerwelle said the talks also covered the two sides' differing opinions on the issues of human rights and democracy.
Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi said other issues discussed in the meetings include bilateral cooperation in fighting drug-trafficking and international terrorism.
Bild am Sonntag has said Hellwig and Koch traveled to Iran to investigate the case of the woman sentenced to death by stoning, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Iranian authorities have suspended the stoning following international outrage about the sentence.