Britain summons Iranian ambassador over social media posts

April 28, 2026 / 9:18 PM

Sharjah24-Reuters: Britain announced on Tuesday that it had summoned the Iranian ambassador to London over what the government described as the Iranian embassy's "unacceptable and inflammatory" social media comments.

Britain's minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, said in a Foreign Office statement that the Iranian embassy "must cease any form of communication that could be interpreted as encouraging violence in the UK or internationally."

Telegram post sparks diplomatic rebuke.

The move followed a statement posted earlier this month by the Iranian embassy on its Telegram channel, calling on Iranians living in Britain to volunteer for a campaign to express their willingness to sacrifice their lives in a war in defence of their country.

The British government did not specify which of the embassy's social media posts it was referring to. British lawmakers have previously warned of significant, wide-ranging threats posed by Iran to the United Kingdom.

Second summons in as many months

This incident is not the first diplomatic rebuke in recent weeks. The government also summoned the Iranian ambassador last month after an Iranian national and a British-Iranian dual national were charged with assisting Iran's intelligence services.