Iran summons British diplomat over arrest of nationals
May 19, 2025
Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a British envoy in Tehran over the arrest of Iranian nationals in the United Kingdom on charges of espionage, state media reported on Monday.
"Following the unjustified arrest of a number of Iranian nationals in the UK... the British charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned on Sunday," Iran's IRNA news agency said.
Why were the Iran nationals arrested?
British police held 7 Iranians earlier this month in two separate operations.
Of those, three men appeared in a London court on Saturday after being charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, that being Iran in their case.
According to the British Home Office, the men were irregular migrants who arrived in the UK between 2016 and 2022.
UK Police say that the alleged spying occurred from August 2024 to February 2025.
Meanwhile, the other four men — who were arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act — have been released from custody but they still face a probe.
What did Iran say?
Iran's state media quoted a foreign ministry official alleging that the arrests appeared to be led by "political motives" to "exert pressure" on the influential Middle Eastern nation.
The UK government has put Iran on the highest tier of its foreign influence register, requiring the Islamic Republic to register everything it does to exert political influence in Britain.
Edited by: Kieran Burke and Wesley Dockery