Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew says Canada is not ruling out sanctions against Iran over the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

Pettigrew made the comments in Brussels on his first visit to the European Union as the new foreign minister. He says he discussed the Kazemi case with his EU counterparts during two days of meetings.

Pettigrew says he was "exchanging and comparing notes" with the EU about what Canada and Europe could do to improve human rights in Iran, including possible diplomatic action in the Kazemi case.

He acknowledges, however, unilateral sanctions by Ottawa would do little unless backed by stronger powers like the 25-nation EU or the United States.

Kazemi, a Montreal freelance journalist who held both Canadian and Iranian citizenship, died while under arrest in Iran in July, 2003. She had been in detention for taking photographs of a student-led protest.

At first, the country's judiciary said she died of a stroke. But a subsequent inquiry determined she died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage.

The sole defendant in the case, Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, was charged with "semi-premeditated murder." But a court in Tehran acquitted him in July, saying Kazemi's death must have been an accident.

A legal team representing Kazemi's mother is appealing the Iranian court verdict.

Pettigrew hopes an appeal of the court decision will bring to light how Kazemi died. He also wants Iran to return Kazemi's body to Canada. Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, has made the same request.

Hachemi has been critical of the response by Ottawa. He wants diplomatic sanctions and to see the case taken to the International Court of Justice at The Hague.