TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran has flatly denied a report on the British newspaper Evening Standard, claiming that a suspected attempt to fly missile warhead components to Iran via Heathrow had been thwarted by the UK Border Force.
Iran’s Embassy in London dismissed report as "biased media brouhaha” in a letter to the paper’s editor-in-chief and asked it not to repeat "such fake cliché news any more.”
Such reports "are aimed at promoting Iranophobia,” the letter read, stating that Iran reserved the right to follow up the issue through relevant channels and use legal means to seek compensation for the damage to its image caused by the false claim.
The paper claimed that at least two ‘O rings’ — which can be used to form seals in rockets — were detected during an inspection of freight being flown out from the airport.
"They were supposedly being sent for use in the Iranian oil industry. But Border Force staff halted the shipment after becoming suspicious that the real intention was to use them in missiles,” it said.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that certain parties in the West were trying to persuade European countries into suspending their relations with Tehran.
Last month, Belgian authorities said they had arrested an Iranian diplomat along with two people suspected of plotting a bomb attack on a gathering of the terrorist MKO in Paris as President Hassan Rouhani began a visit to Europe.
Iran called the scenario a "sinister false flag ploy," timed to overshadow President Rouhani’s visit to Europe.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had evidence showing the suspects arrested in Belgium were among MKO members.