Two Iranian bloggers to be executed for 'spreading corruption' in crackdown ahead of elections

Tehran, Jan 28(ANI): Two Iranian bloggers will be executed for 'spreading corruption' - in the crackdown on the freedom of expression ahead of the parliamentary elections.

Iran has also arrested four journalists on the same charges, prompting the U.S. to urge Tehran to 'protect the rights of all its citizens and uphold the rule of law'.

"We are deeply concerned by the alarming increase in the Iranian regime's efforts to extinguish all forms of free expression and limit its citizens' access to information," the Daily Mail quoted a US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, as saying.

She added that Iranian security forces had reportedly arrested journalists Shahram Manouchehri, Sahamedin Bourghani, Parastoo Dokouhaki and Marzieh Rasouli.

Her statement came in the wake of the United Nations urging the West to resume talks with Iran on the nuclear issue and ahead of the Iranian parliamentary debate on whether to stop exports of oil to the European Union.

The move would deny the EU a six-month phase-in as an Iranian response to the embargo on oil imposed by the EU aimed at abandoning its nuclear programme.

Iran has hinted that it is ready to revive talks with the West but insisted that it would not halt its nuclear programme. (ANI)