UK foreign minister says Britain will respond when Iran's actions are 'unacceptable'

After three months of protests in Iran and a brutal crackdown by authorities, Britain's foreign minister James Cleverly said the UK 'will continue to try and steer Iran into a better direction'.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

12 December, 2022

Cleverly said '[the] priority is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons' [source: Getty]

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Monday said Britain would continue to respond with sanctions against Iran when its actions are unacceptable - in what has been deemed a feeble effort to steer Tehran in a better direction.

"Our priority is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but in parallel to that we will continue to act, to respond when Iran's actions are unacceptable," Cleverly said in answer to a question following a speech in London, giving the example of the supply of drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.

"We've sanctioned those involved with that, we've sanctioned those involved with the brutal suppression of protesters in Iran and we will continue to try and steer Iran into a better direction."

📢 WATCH: Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly will deliver a major speech on his foreign policy priorities at 10am today.

You can follow the speech live here on our feed. pic.twitter.com/uh4LnmmnMM
— Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) December 12, 2022

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday that recent executions carried out by Iran were an attempt to scare protesters, after Tehran publicly hanged a second detainee.

"These executions are a blatant attempt to intimidate people, not for committing crimes but just for taking their opinions to the streets, just for wanting to live in freedom," Baerbock said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Iran on Monday carried out the second execution linked to nearly three months of protests, the judicial news agency Mizan Online reported.

Iran has been rocked by weeks of protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who died after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict hijab dress code for women.

The first execution linked to the protests took place last week.

Mohsen Shekari, 23, was sentenced to death for blocking a street and wounding a security guard at the start of the protests.