Germany later pressed the World Bank to grant a loan to Iran. Foreign Minister Fischer now brushes aside all criticism, claiming that any opposition to Khatami only benefits his conservative opponents. As usual, Fischer ignores the facts. Last year alone, Amnesty International reported 165 executions in Iran. At least 26 persons were whipped, and at least 16 had a finger or hand chopped off.
Torture remains the norm in Iranian prisons.
Not a single member of the security forces was ever sentenced for this. Khatami has frequently voiced nebulous democratic phrases and vague criticisms of state repression. But he continues to call for close cooperation with the conservatives, as well as the courts and security forces dominated by the conservatives, although his closest collaborators and even he himself are victims of assassination attempts. He has repeatedly appealed to his supporters and voters not to offer any resistance and to continue to trust the state, its executioners and its prison wardens. Fischer also overlooks the fact that elections in Iran are neither free nor fair.