Iran summons British ambassador to ‘protest’ against ’accusations’ from London

On Tuesday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had summoned the British ambassador to convey "Tehran's strong protest against London's accusations" against the Islamic Republic. 

The ministry's statement read, "Following the continuous accusations by the British government against the Islamic Republic, Simon Shercliff, the British ambassador to Tehran, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [...] this afternoon, and he was informed of our country's strong protest." 

The ministry did not specify the reason for the protest, which comes after British accusations regarding Iran's stance in regional tensions. 

During the meeting, the acting director-general for the Western Europe Department at the ministry "strongly condemned the baseless accusations by the British authorities," according to the official Iranian news agency. 

The same source mentioned that he strongly condemned "the subversive actions" carried out by London and their "failed fate." 

This comes a day after London and Washington announced sanctions on an Iranian network accused by the two capitals of being linked to the Tehran government, tasked with targeting and liquidating Iranian dissidents and opposition figures. 

The official Iranian news agency (IRNA) stated that the Iranian official informed the British ambassador that such sanctions are "illegitimate." 

Iran does not maintain diplomatic relations with the United States, with the Swiss embassy in Tehran representing its interests. 

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called on Iran on Sunday to "defuse the crisis" in the region after a drone attack in Jordan resulted in the killing of three American soldiers, attributed to a group loyal to Iran. 

Iran denied any involvement in the attack. 

AFP