The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Tehran, Sigvald Tomin Hauge, to protest statements by the speaker of the Norwegian Parliament, Norwegian-born Iranian-born Masud Gharahkhani, over his support for the protests in the country.
«Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Norwegian Ambassador to Tehran, Sigvald Tomin Hauge, to protest the unacceptable statements of the speaker of the Norwegian Parliament against the Islamic Republic,» the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, has reported.
Tehran has «strongly condemned» these statements and described them as «interfering» in the country’s internal affairs.
Gharahkhani expressed his support for the wave of protests in Iran following the death of a woman in custody after being arrested for not wearing a veil properly.
This is the second time the Norwegian ambassador has been summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry over Gharahkhani’s statements on the protests.
Gharahkhani himself assured on Twitter on Monday that he will continue to speak out in favor of the protests. «As speaker of the Storting (Parliament), I stand for democracy, freedom and Human Rights. And I will continue to do so,» he reiterated.
