Iran FM spokesman condemns EU statement on protests

Iran FM spokesman condemns EU statement on protests
November 22, 2019, 10:37 am

Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, gives a press conference in the capital Tehran on May 28, 2019. (AFP)

European officials’ recent statements about the anti-government protests in Iran are an “interference in Iran’s internal affairs,” foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Friday, adding that Europe should instead concentrate on its problems, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.

“We advise the European countries to address their problems first,” said Mousavi.

Instead of issuing “intrusive statements and shedding crocodile tears for thugs and destroyers of public and private property in Iran,” Europe should first answer for the non-fulfillment of its nuclear deal commitments, as well as accompanying the US in its sanctions against Iran, he said.

The European Union on Thursday urged Iran to show “maximum restraint” in handling protests that have rocked the country since last Friday, reportedly leaving as many as 200 dead.

Anti-government protests erupted across Iran last Friday, hours after the price of gasoline spiked by as much as 200 percent.

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