Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Norwegian Ambassador Sigvald Hauge on Monday to protest recent statements made by Parliament Speaker Masud Gharahjani during a November 5 interview with the Iran International television channel.
Hauge was received by the director general of Western Europe in Tehran where he was conveyed his condemnation and «energetic» rejection of these statements as «interference in Iran’s internal affairs», according to a Ministry statement reported by the Mehr news agency.
«Young people in Iran risk their lives for the same freedom and democracy that we have in my country Norway. They demand justice and democracy and are answered with bullets and violence. I will continue to be your voice!», Gharahjani said after learning of the news on his Twitter profile, adding that he defends «democracy, freedom and human rights».
Gharahjani directly addressed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, assuring during the interview that he has been «in power for 44 years», and stressing that «a good Muslim does not murder youth» or «kill his own people».
Hauge has already been called on at least one other occasion when the speaker of the Norwegian Parliament made comments in favor of the cessation of violence in Iran in the context of the protests over the death of young Mahsa Amini.
