Iran’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office in response to Tehran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper expressed concerns over the reported thousands of casualties in Iran’s harshest suppression in over a decade. With the country experiencing an internet shutdown, Cooper fears that the true extent of the atrocities may be even greater.
In a separate development, US President Donald Trump encouraged Iranian demonstrators to persist in their protests, calling on them to take control of their institutions. Trump declared that he had halted all meetings with Iranian officials until the violence against protesters ceases, promising assistance.
Addressing the situation in a parliamentary update, Cooper revealed that the Iranian ambassador, Seyed Ali Mousavi, had been summoned to the UK Foreign Office to address the crisis. She condemned the killings, violence, and repression in Iran, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
Cooper also announced plans for imposing additional sanctions on Iran, targeting key sectors such as finance, energy, transport, and software. She dismissed Iran’s claims that the protests were incited by foreign influences as falsehoods and propaganda, asserting that the regime was attempting to discredit the genuine grassroots movement emerging in various parts of Iranian society.
The Foreign Secretary emphasized the need to counter the regime’s misinformation and repression while safeguarding the UK’s interests. She affirmed the commitment of the UK and other global governments to support the Iranian people’s legitimate calls for change and to counter the regime’s deceitful tactics.