Italy calls on Iran to stop violence: Foreign minister

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini today called on Iran to end the violence against demonstrators protesting the result of the election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.     

Frattini called on the authorities in Tehran to avoid any fresh bloodshed after at least 10 people were killed yesterday, in a statement from his office that took a firmer line than one released earlier in the day.    

And he repeated the appeal to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.    

"We are worried and particularly upset by the violence and loss of human life in Iran," said the minister, whose country hosts a Group of Eight summit of rich nations next month.     

"We ask the Iranian government to urgently act to create the condition for a peaceful resolution to the internal crisis," Frattini said in a statement.     

"Priority must be given to the protection of human life above all else," he said.     

But subsequent to Frattini's first statement German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner issued comments that took a harder line against Iran.     

Merkel called for a vote recount and Kouchner condemned Iran's "brutal repression".     

Frattini's second statement included a call to "check the will expressed by the people."