The UK government has summoned the Iranian ambassador in response to the ongoing “brutal” killings of protesters in the country, the foreign secretary has said.Thousands of people are feared dead or have been detained after a crackdown on anti-government protesters across Iran in recent days.Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper outlined “the UK’s total abhorrence of the killings, the violence, and the repression that we are seeing” in a Commons statement, and said she feared the death toll may be significantly higher than reported so far.She also said the government would implement “full and further sanctions” against Iran targeting finance, energy, transport, software and other industries.The Foreign Office has not specifically set out what form the new sanctions will take or when they will be put in place.It is understood the meeting between Cooper and Iran’s ambassador Seyed Ali Mousavi at the Foreign Office lasted just nine minutes.Speaking in the Commons earlier on Tuesday, Cooper said the government “will work further with the EU and other partners to explore what additional measures might now be needed in response to developments”. Cooper, who spoke directly to the Iranian foreign minister on Monday to convey the UK’s objections to the crackdown, said the decision to summon the ambassador on Tuesday came following “horrific reports” of violence overnight and to “underline the gravity of the moment”. In a diplomatic offensive, several European countries – including France, Spain, Finland, Belgium and Germany – have also summoned Iranian amb …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThe UK government has summoned the Iranian ambassador in response to the ongoing “brutal” killings of protesters in the country, the foreign secretary has said.Thousands of people are feared dead or have been detained after a crackdown on anti-government protesters across Iran in recent days.Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper outlined “the UK’s total abhorrence of the killings, the violence, and the repression that we are seeing” in a Commons statement, and said she feared the death toll may be significantly higher than reported so far.She also said the government would implement “full and further sanctions” against Iran targeting finance, energy, transport, software and other industries.The Foreign Office has not specifically set out what form the new sanctions will take or when they will be put in place.It is understood the meeting between Cooper and Iran’s ambassador Seyed Ali Mousavi at the Foreign Office lasted just nine minutes.Speaking in the Commons earlier on Tuesday, Cooper said the government “will work further with the EU and other partners to explore what additional measures might now be needed in response to developments”. Cooper, who spoke directly to the Iranian foreign minister on Monday to convey the UK’s objections to the crackdown, said the decision to summon the ambassador on Tuesday came following “horrific reports” of violence overnight and to “underline the gravity of the moment”. In a diplomatic offensive, several European countries – including France, Spain, Finland, Belgium and Germany – have also summoned Iranian amb …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
