France’s Foreign Ministry has expressed the government's "consternation" at the 20 year sentence pronounced against Iran’s seven Baha’i leaders. This sentence "is part of a context of numerous cases of persecution and discrimination of which several religious minorities, in particular the Baha'i, are the subject," said the Ministry’s deputy spokeswoman Christine Fage. Iran must "get the persecution to which the Baha'i and religious minorities in Iran are subjected to stop and respect the freedom of religion and conscience as defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran has freely signed up", she added during a press briefing.