Iran Again Summons UK, German Envoys Over Anti-Hijab Protests

Iran on Saturday again called in the British ambassador, marking the 15th time in less than three months a foreign envoy has been summoned, as protests shake the country.

The foreign ministry called in British ambassador Simon Shercliff, a day after his German counterpart, Hans-Udo Muzel, had to appear, state news agency IRNA said.

This brings to at least 15 times in about 10 weeks that Iran has summoned foreign envoys, almost all of them from Western countries.

"This is a reaction of Iranian diplomacy to unprecedented pressure against Iran," IRNA said.

Shercliff has now been summoned five times since the start of demonstrations sparked by the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, 22.

Amini died in custody on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

Iran calls the protests "riots" and says they have been encouraged by its foreign foes.

IRNA said the foreign ministry protested the United Kingdom's support for "terror and unrest", and sanctions it has imposed.

- 'Anti-Iranian action' -

Iran on Saturday also condemned Australia for imposing new sanctions against individuals and institutions allegedly involved in Tehran's response to the protests.

Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani accused Canberra of "interfering in Iran's internal affairs and inciting and promoting violence and hatred," according to a statement.

Australia earlier Saturday announced sanctions on several individuals and two entities, including Iran's morality police and the Basij, a paramilitary force linked to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The "new anti-Iranian action" comes while the Australian government "has systematically violated the basic rights of Aboriginal Australians, prisoners and asylum seekers, and has also sheltered elements of anti-Iranian terrorist and separatist groups", Kanani said.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong had accused Tehran of "flagrant and widespread disregard for the human rights of its own people" in an opinion piece published earlier Saturday.

Meanwhile on Friday, Iran's foreign ministry summoned German ambassador Muzel for the fourth time since September, IRNA said.

The ministry expressed "its utmost objection toward Germany's unacceptable intervention", after Berlin's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticised the "perfidious summary trial" which issued a death sentence against protester Mohsen Shekari.

Iran hanged Shekari on Thursday, in the first known execution connected with the protests, after he was convicted of blocking a street and wounding a Basij paramilitary member during unrest in late September.

Germany has also summoned Iran's ambassador, a diplomatic source said, while other Western governments have condemned Shekari's execution, and some including the UK have imposed additional sanctions.

Iran has summoned the French representative twice, and ambassadors from Australia, Norway and Denmark have also been called in.

Tehran's foreign ministry has upbraided the envoys for various reasons including "anti-Iranian positions about the protests" and "anti-Iranian propaganda" by media based in the countries, IRNA said.

After widespread international outrage at Shekari's execution, Iran said it was exercising restraint, both in the response by security forces, and the "proportionality" of the judicial process.

Thousands of people have been arrested, and in late November a Revolutionary Guards general said more than 300 people had died, including dozens of security forces members.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)