Iran summons British envoy over PM's anti-Iran remarks

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned British Ambassador to Tehran Nicholas Hopton on Saturday over what it called the recent "meddlesome" remarks of the UK Prime Minister Theresa May made at a Persian Gulf leaders meeting, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The Foreign Ministry conveyed the strong protest of the Islamic Republic of Iran to "the undigested statements made by that country's prime minister," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying.

Addressing a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain on Wednesday, May said that Britain would work with Gulf states and help them to nullify Iran's "aggressive" policies.

source: Xinhua

She assured the GCC leaders as being "clear-eyed" about the threat that Iran poses to the Gulf and to the wider Middle East.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry told Hopton that the "irresponsible, provocative and divisive statements" by May in the meeting are unacceptable and it is expected that such statements are not made in future, Qasemi said.

"Such moves (by British officials) run counter to the expansion of ties and will further damage the two countries' relations," he said.

source: Xinhua