Iran expels Swedish diplomat in retaliatory move
Tehran gives Swedish official 48 hours to leave as Iran says Stockholm is bowing down to outside pressure.
Iran has ordered a Swedish diplomat to leave the country one day after Sweden expelled an Iranian embassy official in Stockholm.
“Without doubt, this action by the Swedish government is the result of the influence of the Zionist regime and an effort to disrupt the normal activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Stockholm,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said its director general for Western Europe, Alireza Yousefi, summoned the Swedish ambassador in Tehran on Thursday. Yousefi protested Sweden’s policies, including its “hosting of anti-Iranian terrorist elements and groups”.
Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that the Iranian official was asked to leave the country due to activity incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.