Scenes of a recent protest in Tehran

Foreign Office summons Iran’s ambassador

Foreign Office summons Iran’s ambassador

By Ian Dunt

The Foreign Office has called the Iranian ambassador to the department this afternoon after comments from Ayatollah Khamenei branding Britain “evil”.

The summons follows a similar move in Tehran earlier in the week, when the British ambassador was summoned to the authorities.

Ayatollah Khamenei gave speech during Friday prayers today in which he explicitly called for an end to the protests over the election results in Iran.

He criticised the west for its interference in Iran’s affairs, but singled out Britain in particular.

Animosity between Britain and Iran goes back to the rule of Shah, who ruled with British and American support but was despised throughout Iranian society.

He was overthrown in the 1979 revolution.