Iran has said 'no talks' have taken place with the United States
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Iran’s ambassador to the UK has been summoned by the Foreign Office over his country’s “reckless and destabilising actions” in Britain and overseas.
Seyed Ali Mousavi was called into the Foreign Office after an Iranian and a British-Iranian dual national were accused of carrying out hostile surveillance on London’s Jewish community.
The Foreign Office said the UK takes the threat posed by Iran and its proxies “extremely seriously”.
The diplomat was summoned on the instruction of Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and was met by Middle East minister Hamish Falconer.
Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and Alireza Farasati, 22, are accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between July 9 and August 15 last year.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The summons follows the recent charging of two individuals, one Iranian national and one British-Iranian dual national, under the National Security Act, on suspicion of providing assistance to a foreign intelligence service.
“National security remains our top priority, and we take threats posed by Iran and those who do its bidding extremely seriously.
“This government will take all measures necessary to protect the British people, including exposing Iran’s reckless and destabilising actions at home and abroad.”
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer warned against "false comfort" over the war on Iran after Donald Trump claimed peace talks were taking place.
Asked how long he thought the crisis would last, the Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee: “It’s hard to answer that question, if I’m honest about it.
“I think all our focus and energy has to be in the swift de-escalation, but we’ve got to plan on the basis that it could go on for some time, and that’s the way in which we’ll plan this afternoon.
“Since the conflict started, I’ve been really clear with the team that we mustn’t fall into the sort of false comfort of thinking that there will necessarily be a quick and early end to this.
“We have to plan on the basis there may not be.”
He added: “On energy supplies, I can reassure the committee that we haven’t any meaningful concern about energy supplies. Obviously the price fluctuates daily.”
The PM went on to say he “welcomes” reports of peace talks.
He said: “To that end, I welcome the talks reported between the US and Iran.
“And to be clear with the committee, we the UK were aware that that was happening, and the immediate priority has to be a swift resolution of the conflict and delivering a negotiated agreement which puts tough conditions on Iran, particularly in relation to nuclear weapons.”
Sir Keir also rubbished suggestions Iran could hit the UK with long-range missiles after it struck Cyprus last week.
Britain has “very effective ways of defending ourselves”, the Prime Minister has insisted amid questions about whether the UK could intercept long distance missiles shot at Britain by Iran.
The Prime Minister said: “We constantly assess this, and we do have very effective ways of defending ourselves.
“I don’t want to raise levels of public anxiety. They are anxious about what they’re already seeing on their television screens. They’re anxious about the impact it will have on them, particularly economically, in their households. And I don’t want to raise their levels of anxiety.
“I can tell you our military personnel, our security and intelligence services, are working literally 24/7 to keep us safe and doing a very good job in that regard.”
