Iran summons Danish envoy over ‘late response’ to armed attack on embassy

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has lashed out at Denmark for failing to ensure the security of the Islamic Republic’s embassy and ambassador in Copenhagen after an armed assailant broke into the diplomatic site.

In a phone call with Iranian Ambassador to Copenhagen Afsaneh Nadipour on Friday, Amir-Abdollahian said it is a shame that such an attack happens against a “female ambassador with diplomatic impunity in the heart of Europe.”

He also criticized the Danish police for their belated response to the intrusion.

The envoy then briefed the foreign minister on the circumstances surrounding the attack, saying, “After trespassing on the embassy’s premises, the assailant, carrying a cold weapon, started to threaten, terrorize and cause damage to the vehicles in the parking lot of the embassy.”

“Unfortunately, despite the previous official warnings, the Danish police arrived at the embassy with considerable delay,” Nadipour added.

The director general of West Europe at the Iranian Foreign Ministry also summoned Denmark’s ambassador to Tehran to officially protest over a lack of security for Iran’s embassy and its diplomats.

During a meeting, the Danish ambassador was reminded of the responsibility of the host government to protect the diplomatic missions of other countries and of the need for the Danish government to adhere to its international obligations in that regard.

In response, the Danish ambassador apologized for the incident, saying security measures will be strengthened after the incident.

He added that he will immediately convey Iran’s protest to Copenhagen.

Nationwide riots erupted after the death of a young Iranian woman last month. Anti-Iran rioters have also gathered in front of the Islamic Republic’s embassies and consulates in some cities around the world, with some clashes reported between them and host countries’ police.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Sweden’s chargé d’affaires to protest an attack on the Iranian embassy in Stockholm.

The Swedish diplomat has been summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry in the absence of the ambassador to convey the Islamic Republic’s strong protest with regard to the Swedish police’s failure to take the fully required security measures in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

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• Iran summons Sweden’s chargé d’affaires over attack on embassy

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has also expressed its protest to Belgium over a similar attack on the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Brussels.

Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who fainted at a police station and was pronounced dead at a Tehran hospital on September 16, erupted first in her native province of Kordestan and later in several cities, including the capital Tehran.

The protests soon turned into violent riots, with rioters going on the rampage across the country, attacking security officers, resorting to vandalism against public property, and desecrating religious sanctities. 

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• Iran president orders thorough probe into Mahsa Amini's case

Immediately after Amini’s death, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi ordered a thorough investigation into the case.

Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced last Friday that the rioters had been backed by Western regimes and their mercenary media, who disseminated misinformation and distorted the sequence of events that led to Amini’s death even before the official investigation into the incident concludes.

Danish police arrest assailant

Danish police said later on Friday that it has arrested the 32-year-old man who attacked the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen.

The man, an Iranian citizen, had been stopped by an employee before entering the embassy building, police said, according to Reuters.

He will have a court hearing at Copenhagen city court on Saturday and will be charged with two counts of vandalism, for violence, and for breaching a section of the penal code that deals with crimes against people with diplomatic status.

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