Iran ambassador summoned by Foreign Office over ‘reckless and destabilising actions’ in Britain
Iran’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned by the Foreign Office following what it described as his country’s “reckless and destabilizing actions” both within the UK and abroad.
The diplomatic intervention came after an Iranian national and a dual British-Iranian national were accused of conducting hostile surveillance on London’s Jewish community.
The summoning of Seyed Ali Mousavi, on the instructions of Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, led Middle East minister Hamish Falconer to convey the UK’s serious concerns.
The State Department reiterated that it takes the threat posed by Iran and its proxies “extremely seriously.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “This call follows the recent charging of two individuals, one an Iranian national and the other a dual British-Iranian national, under the National Security Act on suspicion of providing assistance to a foreign intelligence service.
“National security remains our top priority, and we take the threats posed by Iran and those doing its bidding extremely seriously.
“This government will take all necessary action to protect the British people, including by exposing Iran’s reckless and destabilizing actions at home and abroad.”
Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and Alireza Farasati, 22, are accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between July 9 and August 15 last year.
The men were arrested on Friday, March 6.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was “disgusted” by the arson attack on four Jewish ambulances and that targeting emergency vehicles was “simply appalling”.
Meeting with leaders of the Jewish community on Monday, the prime minister said: “The idea that we live in a society where people feel the need to hide their identity or religion is frankly disgusting.”
The incident, which took place in Golders Green, is being treated as an anti-Semitic hate crime by the Metropolitan Police but is not being treated as terrorism at this stage.
No arrests have been made at this stage.
A Telegram post from Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), which claimed to be the group behind the arson, circulated online.
An unverified video posted on the group’s Telegram channel after 6 a.m. Monday included Google Maps street view, ambulance footage and explosion footage.
