TEHRAN -- The Iranian foreign ministry on Saturday summoned British Ambassador Simon Shercliff over the UK’s continued interference in Iran’s internal affairs and new sanctions against Tehran.
The head of the third bureau of Western Europe at Iran’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the continuation of British officials’ meddling and impudent remarks about internal developments in Iran and the support of the country’s government and media for acts of terror and turmoil in Iran.
The Iranian official also conveyed the Islamic Republic’s vehement protest at Britain’s illegal sanctions against a number of Iranian nationals to the British envoy.
He told Shercliff that efforts by Britain and the London-based state media to incite more protest in Iran would bear no fruit and would only increase the Iranian nation’s hatred towards the European country’s policies against Tehran.
The British diplomat was told that the Islamic Republic reserves the right to take retaliatory measures in response to the new sanctions.
Britain on Friday announced sanctions against 10 Iranian officials in the country’s biggest package brought against individuals, over alleged human rights violations, particularly during the recent protest in Iran sparked by the death of a young Iranian woman in police custody.
During the Saturday meeting, the Iranian foreign ministry official also strongly rejected London’s baseless allegations about the export of Iranian-made drones to Russia.
He told the British ambassador that the dispatch of lethal weapons by Britain and its allies has prolonged the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which can be solved through political channels.
The British ambassador, for his part, expressed regret over the incident, adding that he will convey Iran’s protest to his respective country.
Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward claimed on Friday that Russia was attempting to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles, and offering Tehran an unprecedented level of military and technical support in return.
Iran, which has repeatedly rejected in the strongest terms the Western claims of delivery of weapons and drones to Russia to be used against Ukraine, says it has had long-term defense cooperation with Moscow and pursues a resolution of the conflict through dialog and diplomacy.
On Friday, Iran summoned Germany’s ambassador to Tehran over Berlin’s vociferous support for foreign-backed riots and inciting terrorism in the Islamic Republic.
The envoy, Hans-Udo Muzel, was summoned to the foreign ministry after the German government “strongly condemned” Iran’s execution of a rioter, and questioned the Islamic Republic’s lawful response to the riots.
During Muzel’s meeting, Iran conveyed its strong protest at Berlin’s unacceptable intervention in the Islamic Republic’s internal affairs.