The British Foreign Office has summoned this Friday the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in the United Kingdom, Mehdi Hoseini Matin, to protest against threats and harassment by Iranian authorities against journalists living in this European country.
«I called the Iranian representative to make it clear that we do not tolerate threats to life or intimidation towards journalists or any individual living in the UK,» British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
In this sense, he recalled that «the Iranian regime» has responded to the protests in the country «by restricting freedom of expression and attacking the media». «More than 40 journalists have been arrested and detained,» he counted.
As indicated by the British government, in recent years, the London Metropolitan Police has contacted several journalists in the UK and received «credible information» about threats to their lives.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amirabdolahian accused Western countries of promoting violence during the latest protests in the country and said that several states had offered «training» for the «manufacture of weapons and Molotov cocktails».
In response to the violence in the country, the European Union announced this week that it will redouble pressure against Tehran and will approve new sanctions on Monday against some thirty individuals and entities linked to the violent repression.
The protests began after the death of young Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested in Tehran for allegedly not wearing her veil properly. The crackdown on the protests, which include calls for the overthrow of the Iranian regime, have so far resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people, according to the latest figures from the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR).
