Iranian authorities have summoned the British ambassador to Tehran, Hugo Shorter, for consultations this Wednesday in protest against the designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a threat to British national security, a move that comes a day after the London government did the same with the Iranian representative in the British capital.
The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alireza Yousefi, received Shorter to convey his "strong protest" against what he described as a "hostile act" against the Islamic Republic.
Tehran thus responds to the United Kingdom's decision to include the Revolutionary Guard within the scope of the National Security Act, a regulation that grants British authorities new powers to act against this corps by equating it to foreign intelligence services, something that the Iranian government considers "unjustified," according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
According to this law, anyone who provides support to the Revolutionary Guard faces penalties of up to 14 years in prison, while those accused of carrying out acts of sabotage in the name of this command of the Iranian Army could face life imprisonment.
"We will take all necessary measures to protect the British people. Threats from foreign states will not be tolerated, and the measures we have taken this week – including the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under new state threat powers – are intended to unmask and thwart the efforts of those acting on their orders," Downing Street said at the time.
Iran's reaction also comes a day after the British Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires, Ali Nasimfar, over the alleged role of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force in coordinating affiliated groups to carry out a series of attacks in various parts of Europe between March and May.