Iran summons British diplomat over London's 'interventionist' remarks

Isabelle Marsh was summoned by the ministry’s director-general for Western Europe on Thursday in the absence of Britain’s ambassador to Tehran, hours after Barbara Woodward, Britain’s UN envoy, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) faulting Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy work.

Woodward accused Iran of violating the UNSC Resolution 2231, which endorses the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement reached between Iran and world countries in 2015.

The US left the deal in 2018 and restored the sanctions that it had lifted. Bowing under the American pressure, Washington’s Western allies, including the UK, then started toeing the US’s sanction line closely and stopped their trade activities with Tehran.

Woodward faulted a set of retaliatory steps that the Islamic Republic has been taking in retaliation, without making mention of the Western countries’ violations of the deal that have prompted the Islamic Republic’s reprisal. Iran has said it would only reverse its reprisal if the Western allies resumed their commitment to the JCPOA.

She also accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia, a claim that Tehran has invariably denied in line with its rejection of the war that has been going on in Ukraine.

Informing the British chargé d’affaires about Iran’s protest at the envoy’s remarks, the Iranian Foreign Ministry official strongly denounced them as meddlesome accusations.

He advised the British authorities “to refrain from walking into traps that are laid by the Zionist regime [of Israel] and terrorist groups.”

The official was referring to Tel Aviv and the anti-Iran terrorist cult of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO)’s incessant smear campaigns against Iran that seek to tarnish the Islamic Republic’s image on the global stage.

“Continuation of the destructive approach on the part of Britain would be unacceptable, and would surely be met by the Islamic Republic’s reciprocal, proportionate, and effective measures,” the Iranian diplomat concluded.

FM: Britain to impose new sanctions on Iran

Also on Thursday, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said in a statement that the country would create a new sanctions regime for Iran, giving the UK greater powers to target “decision makers.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran will give a reciprocal and proportionate response to the unacceptable approach taken by London.

The ministry condemned Britain’s latest sanctions on Iran as illegal.