The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Italy’s ambassador to Tehran over meddlesome comments made by some of the European country’s officials about Iran’s domestic affairs.
Giuseppe Perrone was summoned by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday to receive Iran’s “strong protest” to anti-Tehran measures and remarks by some Italian officials.
In the meeting, Iran's strong protest was conveyed to the Italian ambassador over the continuation of statements and interventionist measures by some Italian officials about Iran's internal affairs.
It was emphasized during the meeting that “selective and double standards” regarding human rights are rejected and considered unacceptable from the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Foreign Ministry told the Italian envoy that it was not Iran but the other side that has harmed the interests of the Iranian nation and violated the country’s rights by the imposition of illegal sanctions.
“The negative and irrational positions of some Italian officials do not correspond with the historical record of relations between the two countries,” the Ministry added.
The Italian ambassador promised to convey Iran’s protest to his respective government at the earliest.
Over the past weeks, Italian officials have accused Iranian authorities of what they claim to be “crackdown on anti-government protests” across the country.
The Italian government has also denounced as “unacceptable and intolerable” the Islamic Republic's approach towards violent riots sparked after the mid-September’s death of a young woman of Kurdish descent in Tehran.
Riots broke out in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later in hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property as Western powers, in particular the United States, provided support.
The European Union and some Western countries imposed sanctions on Iran over its approach toward the riots. Iran, in turn, announced retaliatory sanctions against institutions and individuals in the European Union due to their deliberate actions in support of terrorism and terrorist groups during the riots.