UK denies diplomat’s visit to Tehran linked to ongoing protests

TEHRAN, Iran — Britain says that a recent visit to Tehran by a foreign ministry official was hosted by Iran, dismissing a report by an Iranian newspaper linking it to ongoing unrest.

Ultra-conservative newspaper Javan had published a photograph of Stephanie al-Qaq, the head of the ministry’s Middle East and North Africa department, in its edition yesterday under the headline “English spy led the riots up close.”

But British ambassador Simon Shercliff insists that her “short visit to Tehran last month” had been for “official talks.”

The visit was hosted by the foreign ministry in Tehran, and “they asked us not to say anything publicly about the visit, so we did not,” Shercliff says on Twitter Thursday.

“I don’t remember any part of those official talks being about instigating riots,” he adds.

A wave of unrest has swept Iran since 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

The street violence has led to dozens of deaths — mostly of protesters but also members of the security forces — and hundreds have been arrested.

The Javan newspaper quoted “informed sources” as saying that Al-Qaq “entered the country a few days before the start of the riots and closely observed the process of managing the situation in Iran and evidence shows she had a role in leading the riots.”

Al-Qaq led the British delegation to currently stalled negotiations on reviving a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.

Iranian officials have accused the country’s enemies, particularly the United States, of fanning the Amini protests.