The Iranian Ambassador to London has been summoned to the Foreign Office after Metro revealed that Tehran’s embassy is recruiting expats to ‘sacrifice their lives for the Homeland’.
Diplomatic Rebuke Over Social Media Campaign
Seyed Ali Mousavi was called in by Middle East minister Hamish Falconer over the embassy’s ‘unacceptable and inflammatory’ social media comments. Metro reported yesterday that Iranian diplomats had called on their country’s diaspora in the UK to ‘lay down our lives’ for a new campaign to ‘defend Iranian land’.
Details of the Telegram Post
The message, posted on their Telegram channel, directs Iranians to register their interest with the authorities and specifically references recruiting ‘children’. The message – uncovered by Metro – was uploaded to the Iranian embassy’s Telegram account on April 15. It calls for Iranians based in the UK to register for a new ‘Sacrificing Life for the Homeland Campaign’.
The post reads: ‘All brave and distinguished children of Iran are invited to participate consciously and register in this campaign, adding another golden page to the book of honours of this ancient land and demonstrating that their hearts are bound to the dignity and greatness of their homeland.’
The Telegram upload ends with a chilling poetic verse: ‘Let us all, one and all, give our lives in battle. Rather than surrender our country to the enemy.’ The lines are taken from a famous sequence of patriotic poetry in Iran called the Shahnameh, or ‘Book of Kings,’ composed by the Persian poet Ferdowsi.
Foreign Office Response
The Foreign Office called the post ‘completely unacceptable’ and ordered the Embassy to ‘cease any form of communications that could be interpreted as encouraging violence in the UK or internationally.’
Embassy Denies Encouraging Hostility
A spokesperson for the Iranian Embassy told Metro yesterday: ‘Iranians around the world have always cared deeply about their homeland and the protection of its territorial integrity and they always will. The “Jan Fada” platform is intended for all Iranians who wish to support and defend their country, and it does not promote any form of hostility. Any claims or assumptions to the contrary are simply unfounded. Such biased judgments are made hastily and without proper understanding.’
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
