Britain summons Iranian ambassador

Foreign ministry ask for explanation after Iran’s supreme leader calls UK “evil”.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Khamenei accused Britain of meddling in Iran's internal affairs [EPA]

‘Media suppression’

The foreign ministry said the ambassador would holds talks with Mark Lyall Grant, its political director, later on Friday.

Britain is one of the six nations involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The West accuses Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

Gordon Brown, Britain’s prime minister, said during a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday that “the whole world is looking at Iran” and that it was up to Tehran to show that the disputed elections in the country had been fair.

Brown said: “We are with others, including the whole of the European Union unanimously today, in condemning the use of violence, in condemning media suppression.

“It is for Iran now to show the world that the elections have been fair … that the repression and the brutality that we have seen in these last few days is not something that is going to be repeated.

“We want Iran to be part of the international community and not to be isolated. But it is for Iran to prove … that they can respect these basic rights.”

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who was also attending the summit in the Belgian capital, said Khamenei’s speech was “disappointing”.

Source: News Agencies