TEHRAN - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reacted angrily to the arrest of an Iranian diplomat on suspicion of plotting a bomb attack on a meeting of Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Paris, calling the move “a sinister false flag ploy”.

The arrest of the diplomat working in Tehran’s embassy in Vienna came while President Hassan Rouhani was on a tour of Switzerland and Austria.

“How convenient: Just as we embark on a presidential visit to Europe, an alleged Iranian operation and its ‘plotters’ arrested,” Zarif tweeted.

Zarif said Iran is ready to work with all concerned parties to get to the bottom of the story.

“Iran unequivocally condemns all violence & terror anywhere, and is ready to work with all concerned to uncover what is a sinister false flag ploy,” Zarif noted.

The Iranian diplomat was arrested in Germany. He was among three other people arrested on the same suspicion.

PA/PA