UK Ambassador to Tehran Summoned:

Iran Decries PM May’s ‘Thoughtless Remarks’

Date: 10 December 2016 - 21:38

News ID: ۳۴۳۲۱

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned the UK ambassador in Tehran over the British prime minister's recent comments on Iran.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the issue was Prime Minister Theresa May's comments during a two-day summit in Bahrain of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional bloc of Western-allied countries including Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
May told Persian Gulf leaders that they must "work together to push back against Iran's aggressive regional actions, whether in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria or in the (Persian) Gulf itself."
"Following British Prime Minister Theresa May’s meddlesome remarks at the summit of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, Nicholas Hopton, the country’s ambassador to Tehran, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry today,” Qassemi said.
He added that the deputy director general for West Europe affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed Tehran’s strong protest at the prime minister’s "thoughtless remarks.”
Qassemi said the Iranian Foreign Ministry official emphasized that May’s "irresponsible, provocative and divisive” comments at the regional annual summit were "unacceptable and rejected.”
Iran seriously expects Britain to avoid repeating such unacceptable remarks in the future, he added.
The spokesperson said the Iranian official told the British diplomat that such measures are in contradiction with the expansion of relations and would harm Tehran-London ties.
He said the British ambassador was also told that Iran’s regional policy was based on the establishment of peace, stability and security as well as the fight against terrorism.
During the meeting, it was announced that at a time that the policy of certain regional countries in supporting terrorism was clear, it was regrettable and astonishing that the British prime minister had overlooked the truth, Qassemi added.
Hopton, for his part, said London’s policy was to improve relations with Tehran and added that he would immediately inform his country of Iran’s message.
Britain reopened its embassy in Tehran in August 2015 as a sign of the improvement of mutual ties between the two countries.
The European country had shut down its embassy in Tehran in November 2011, withdrawing its diplomatic staff after hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest outside the British embassy in Tehran against the expansion of UK sanctions on Iran, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British ambassador.
In late November 2011, Iran’s Parliament approved a bill to downgrade the diplomatic ties between Tehran and London to the level of chargé d’affaires, and limit all economic and cultural collaborations to the minimum level.
Iran and Britain upgraded their ties back to the ambassador level in September, in another sign of warming relations between the two countries.
Earlier, Iranian First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri played down May’s remarks against Iran, saying such comments have humiliated the Arab states in the Persian Gulf.
"The British prime minister was invited to this summit to speak against Iran. Such acts are humiliating for these countries,” Jahangiri said.
Jahangiri further said the "Zionists and some unwise countries in the region” falsely think that they can entangle Iran in conflicts through pressure.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is a big country in the region” and cannot be defeated through such remarks, he added.
He emphasized that Iran’s security and stability are rooted in the country’s history and said Iranians would continue to play their historic role in the future.
"Terrorist groups and Daesh have been created with the purpose of harming Iran’s security but they are undermining the security of their own supporters,” Jahangiri said.
He emphasized that Iran enjoys good conditions at a time that the Middle East is faced with tensions and chaos.
The Iranian vice president further pointed to "worrisome” developments across the world and stressed the importance of making wise decisions in line with national interests.
Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Thursday that the recent anti-Iran comments by the British prime minister prove that London is pursuing a divisive agenda.
He added that May’s remarks among "subservient regional countries are not compatible with the reality” of the Islamic Republic and "indicate Britain’s divisive policy.”