Iran summons Swedish envoy over European officials' "meddlesome" remarks

TEHRAN, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned the Swedish ambassador to Iran to protest "meddlesome" remarks by certain European officials, according to the ministry's website.

During the meeting with Swedish ambassador Mattias Lentz, whose country currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Director General of the Western Europe department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned any interference in Iran's internal affairs, stressing that justifying insults to religious and national values of other nations on the ground of freedom is a betrayal of the sacred concept of freedom and cruelty to human beings and human rights.

Turning to some European states' roles in promoting violence and hate-mongering in other countries, the Iranian diplomat said interference in other states' internal affairs is in contradiction with all international rules and regulations and will not be tolerated by Iran.

The official also called on the Swedish ambassador to urge the European sides to stop their "destructive" approach of interference in Iran's domestic affairs.

Over the past weeks, different senior officials of some European states have slammed Iran's handling of the recent protests in the country that erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in a Tehran hospital on Sept. 16, 2022, a few days after her collapse at a police station.

Iran has accused the United States and some other Western countries of "inciting riots and supporting terrorists" in the country, and has executed some of the "rioters" over the past weeks, which has also been criticized by some European states.

As the latest instance of such criticisms by European officials, a few days ago, the EU condemned the execution of two men, named Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Mohammad Hosseini, who were charged with "killing a member of the Basij volunteer force during the riots."