Tehran summons Dutch ambassador over embassy attack in The Hague

January 16, 2019 - 19:38

TEHRAN - The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called in Dutch Ambassador to Tehran Jacques Werner to express Iran’s protest over a recent attack on the Islamic Republic’ embassy in The Hague.

A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official on Monday conveyed Tehran’s strong protest over the attack to the Dutch envoy, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

It added that the Iranian official pointed to similar attacks by “some anti-revolutionary and separatist elements” in the past and criticized the lack of pre-emptive and decisive measures by the Netherlands' police and judicial authorities.

He urged the Dutch government to take firm action in line with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and ensure the security of the Iranian embassy and its diplomats in The Hague and prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

The Dutch ambassador, for his part, expressed his regret over the attack and presented a report on measures taken by his country's police regarding the perpetrators of the incident.

Werner said he would inform his government of Iran’s protest.

Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Dutch media as saying that a group demonstrating against the murders of two Iranian dissidents in the Netherlands attacked the Iranian embassy in The Hague late Wednesday and were arrested for public disorder.

Some of the protesters reportedly hurled stones and objects at the embassy and tried to enter the building by climbing over its fence.

Police arrested four suspects, including the son of Ahmad Mola Nissi, a leader of the separatist group Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), which is regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran.