U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that “the U.S. strongly condemns Iran’s unjust, barbaric execution of Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian journalist kidnapped abroad by the regime”. “Zam exposed the brutality and corruption of the regime, which has killed or arrested more than 860 journalists in its 41-year reign of terror”, he added. Zam’s execution was also condemned by the UN and Europe; Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the German and French ambassadors in Tehran to protest their “interfering statements”.