LONDON – Britain said on Tuesday the Iranian ambassador to London had been summoned over what the government described as the Iranian embassy’s “unacceptable and inflammatory” comments on social media.
Britain’s minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, made clear that the embassy “must cease any form of communications that could be interpreted as encouraging violence in the UK or internationally”, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Iranian officials in Tehran could not be immediately reached for comment on Britain’s move.
A statement posted by the Iranian embassy on its Telegram channel earlier this month called on Iranians in Britain to volunteer for a campaign to declare their willingness to sacrifice their lives in a warin defence of their country.
The British government did not specify which of the embassy’s social media comments it was referring to. British lawmakers have warned of significant and wide-ranging threats posed by Iran to Britain.
The government also summoned the Iranian ambassador last month after an Iranian national and a British-Iranian dual national were charged on suspicion of helping Iran’s intelligence services.
