Foreign Office summons Iran’s ambassador to UK over country’s ‘reckless actions’ | Politics | News
Iran’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned by the Foreign Office over his country’s “reckless and destabilizing actions” in the UK and abroad. Seyed Ali Mousavi was summoned to the Foreign Office after an Iranian and a dual British-Iranian national were accused of conducting hostile surveillance of the Jewish community in London.
The Foreign Office said the UK took the threat posed by Iran and its proxies “extremely seriously”. The diplomat was summoned on the instructions of Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and was welcomed by Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer. 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 prosecution claimed that these individuals carried out reconnaissance of targets such as Britain’s oldest synagogue, a Jewish community centre, a campus with a school, an organization providing security advice to the Jewish community and the Israeli embassy and consulate.
They are also accused of trying to make discoveries about a woman who was living in Colchester at the time.
The two men sat side by side in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last Thursday.
Chief Justice Paul Goldspring, speaking only through an interpreter to confirm their names and dates of birth, told them they would remain in custody until their next hearing at the Old Bailey on April 17.
Shahsavani, who came to the UK in 2009 and now holds both British and Iranian citizenship, lives with his wife and two school-age children.
Farasati, who came to the UK with her mother on a family reunification visa in 2021 at the age of 17, only has Iranian citizenship.
