The Iranian Foreign Ministry has expressed serious concern over the arrest of seven Iranian citizens in Britain earlier this month. Four of them were detained on suspicion of terrorist activities, Reuters reported. British police have extended their detention until May 10 for further questioning, News.bg reports.
“The unpleasant habit of some British officials to repeat baseless and unproven allegations against Iran without relevant evidence undoubtedly undermines bilateral relations and strengthens the historical distrust of the Iranian people towards the British government,“ said Alireza Yousefi, director general for Western Europe at the Iranian Foreign Ministry. He called on the British authorities to immediately provide information on the reasons for the arrest of the Iranian citizens.
Earlier this week, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Tehran was ready to cooperate with the investigation if credible evidence of wrongdoing was presented.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the two ongoing counter-terrorism operations as some of the most serious threats to the country's national security in recent years. The arrests were made in the context of new British regulations, according to which Iran is included in the list of countries with the highest level of foreign influence. This obliges Tehran to declare all activities related to political influence in the territory of the United Kingdom.