TEHRAN – In reaction to an interventionist tweet, Simon Shercliff on Wednesday noon was summoned by the director general of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s West Europe Department.

A day earlier, the controversial envoy asked Iranian authorities on the Day of the Journalist to “release all arbitrarily detained individuals, including all journalists”. He said journalists in Iran are prevented from doing their job and are facing threats to their safety.
 
The remarks drew angry reactions across Iran. The Iranian envoy to Madrid slammed Shercliff’s comments asking him to abide by the etiquette of diplomacy. Reza Zabib said the British envoy has violated professional and moral standards. He added that what can be counted arbitrary are the unilateral U.S. sanctions imposed against Iran. He said there are also many instances of the UK government using arbitrary force against its citizens.

Shercliff might have been hinting at the detention of two journalists named Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi who were arrested during last year’s riots in Iran. Iran’s judiciary spokesman has clarified that their arrests had nothing to do with their reporting and that the two were arrested as they were involved with the U.S. government. 

This is the second time in the past week that a British diplomat is being summoned by Iran. On Monday, The UK's chargé d'affaires to Tehran was called to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs over British officials’ “destructive and interfering” comments and measures.