Iran says it summoned top British diplomat over arrests in UK

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the British charge d’affaires in Tehran over the arrest of Iranian nationals and what it says are “false claims” leveled by Britain against the Islamic Republic, Iranian state media reports.

Earlier this month, British police arrested 7 Iranian nationals in two separate operations, with three men charged last week with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, in this case Iran.

“The responsibility for the inappropriate effects of such actions, which appear to be motivated by political motives to exert pressure on Iran, will lie with the British government,” state media quotes a foreign ministry official as saying.

The charge d’affaires was summoned on Sunday and requested to provide an official explanation regarding the reasons and legal bases for the arrests.