UK will not ‘tolerate intimidation’, foreign secretary tells Iran

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in a face-to-face meeting that Britain will “not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil” from groups linked to Iran.

The meeting took place on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

Talks at the UN General Assembly

The Foreign Office said Miliband and Araghchi discussed the war in the Middle East, alongside the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

It also said the talks covered the UK’s “unwavering resolve to combat threats from Iranian-linked groups on UK soil”.

Miliband’s message to Araghchi placed the issue of alleged Iranian-linked activity in Britain alongside wider regional security concerns being discussed at the UN gathering.

Call for release of British couple

At the UN General Assembly in New York, Miliband also called for the release of a British couple being held in Tehran’s Evin prison.

The Foreign Office account presented the meeting as a direct exchange between the UK foreign secretary and his Iranian counterpart during the assembly’s diplomatic sessions.

Source: South China Morning Post