Iranian ambassador summoned over country’s response to protests
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Yvette Cooper has confirmed the government has summoned the Iranian ambassador in a statement to the Commons.
The foreign secretary has said her colleague, the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, summoned the Iranian representative in the UK “to underline the gravity of this moment and to call Iran to answer for the horrific reports that we are hearing”.
The Reuters news agency says around 2,000 people have been killed during widespread protests, according to an Iranian official.
Protests sparked by a widening economic crisis have spread across the country since December.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency says over 10,000 people have been arrested.
Ms Cooper told MPs that “horrific reports suggest that potentially thousands of people have been killed” while “protesting for change”, and that due to a “total internet shutdown” in Iran on 8 January, “the full facts are not yet clear”.
But she added: “I am fearful that the reports we have seen may underestimate the full horror as further evidence and testimony reaches the outside world.”
‘UK condemns brutal killings in the strongest terms’
In a strongly worded warning, Ms Cooper said: “The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms the horrendous and brutal killing of Iranian protesters, and we demand that the Iranian authorities respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens.”
The cabinet minister told the Commons she spoke to her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Monday to warn him to stop.
Iranian Ambassador to the UK Seyed Ali Mousavi .
Pic: PA
But she also recognised that recent events in Iran are “no outlier” from the regime’s past behaviour, which she said included “backing… terrorist and extremist proxies” such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
The foreign secretary also accused Iran of carrying out activities that pose “danger to dissidents, journalists and the Jewish community here in the UK”, and said Britain’s security services had discovered more than 20 “potentially lethal Iran-backed plots over the last year alone”.
Case of Britons jailed in Iran raised ‘just yesterday’
The minister added that the UK “will not tolerate any Iran-backed threats on UK soil”, and pointed to the country being placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
She also highlighted a review she commissioned into what more needs to be done to apply counterterrorism-style powers to state threats, and confirmed the government will take forward its recommendations.
Ms Cooper also said the government would “ensure the safety and security of our citizens in Iran”, and added she had raised the case of imprisoned Britons Craig and Lindsay Foreman “just yesterday”.
She said the government would continue to put “coordinated economic and diplomatic pressure on this regime”.
Ms Cooper announced plans for “full and further sanctions” against Iran that target finance, energy, transport, software and other significant industries.
Tories question why government response has taken so long
Responding to the minister’s statement, Dame Priti Patel asked why the government had not summoned the Iranian ambassador sooner.
The shadow foreign secretary also asked where “the government’s resolve to stand up to Iran and back those protesting?”
She warned that the UK “cannot let their dreams be buried as we mourn the victims of Tehran’s atrocities” and that “if change comes [in Iran], we should be ready to support this change”.
Dame Priti also asked if the government has spoken to and is “aligned” with the US administration, and questioned whether ministers have considered using UK or US military bases “to stop the brutality of the Iranian regime”.
