UK Envoy Summoned Over ‘Provocative’ Remarks
TEHRAN -- Iran summoned the British ambassador, again, for “provocative” statements made by London over recent violent riots in the country which the UK is accused of having a role in.
The Foreign Ministry summoned Simon Shercliff for the second time in less than 10 days and “strongly condemned the interventionist statements resorting to provocative and fake interpretations” by London, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The summons came two days after British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly made incendiary remarks about the riots.
Iran said the “unilateral and selective” statement showed that the UK is siding with British-based groups engaged in subversive acts against the Islamic Republic.
Earlier last week Iran summoned Shercliff to protest Britain hosting Farsi-language media outlets inciting for violence.
On Wednesday, Iran’s foreign minister decried the role of the EU countries and terrorist groups based there in instigating recent riots in the country, vowing response to any “hasty” and “ill-considered” action against the Islamic Republic.
In a phone call with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, Hussein Amir-Abdollahian discussed a wide range of bilateral and global issues, including the recent foreign-backed riots in Iran, which led to many casualties.
“We are dissatisfied with the positions and interference of some European officials concerning recent incidents,” he said, referring to meddlesome remarks made by some EU officials about recent developments in the country.
“If the European Union seeks to adopt a hasty and ill-considered measure through a double standard behavior, it should await the Islamic Republic of Iran’s effective and reciprocal action,” he added.
Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who fainted at a police station on September 16 and was later pronounced dead at a Tehran hospital, erupted first in her native province of Kordestan and later spread to other parts of the country, including the capital.
Immediately after Amini’s death, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi ordered a thorough investigation