TEHRAN – Iran has
summoned the Danish ambassador to protest an incident at its embassy in Copenhagen in which its ambassador was threatened, Iran’s foreign ministry said.
Danish police said they had arrested a 32-year old man earlier on Friday after he had entered the grounds of the embassy carrying a knife.
The man, an Iranian citizen, was stopped by an employee before entering the embassy building, the police said in a statement.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the ambassador, Afsaneh Nadipour, had been threatened, a local employee injured, and embassy vehicles damaged.
The man was to have a court hearing on Saturday and be charged with two counts of vandalism, for violence, and for breaching a section of the penal code that deals with crimes against people with diplomatic status, the Danish police said.
“It is unfortunate that, in the heart of Europe, such an attack takes place on a woman and an ambassador who has diplomatic immunity, and the police do not arrive in time,” Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said.
He also criticized the Danish police for their belated response to the intrusion.
“Unfortunately, despite the previous official warnings, the Danish police arrived at the embassy with considerable delay,” Nadipour said.
In a thread of tweets, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said there have recently been other assaults on the Iranian diplomatic missions in Europe.
Underlining the link between the attackers on Iranian diplomatic buildings and Western support for the rioters in Iran, Kanaani called on the hosting governments to adhere to their legal obligation and take “immediate” measures to protect the Iranian missions.
“Today, in a grave security accident in our embassy in Copenhagen, an assailant tried & fortunately failed to stab our ambassador, who happens to be a woman. This assault on our diplomatic mission was the latest of recent violent & unlawful acts against Iran in Europe,” the spokesman said.
“Recently there were similar violent attacks on our diplo missions in Europe. The link btwn such assaults & West’s political support for rioters is undeniable. The hosting govs have a legal obligation to take sufficient security measures. They’re expected to do so immediately,” he added.