Iran summons Austrian ambassador to Tehran after similar move by Vienna

Aug. 28 () –

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Austria’s ambassador to Tehran after Vienna summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest his public support for the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah.

“Following the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s action to summon our country’s ambassador, Wolf Dietrich Heim, Director General for Western Europe, today summoned the Austrian ambassador in Tehran to the Foreign Ministry,” reads a statement published by the diplomatic ministry on its website.

According to the Director General for Western Europe, during the meeting he said that “Hezbollah is a liberating and anti-occupation resistance movement and is active and effective in the political structure of Lebanon, with an official presence in the Government and Parliament.”

He also “strongly” protested against Vienna’s decision to summon its diplomatic representative and stressed that “this questionable action is contrary to the realities of the region and to relations between the two countries.”

Iranian ambassador to Austria Abbas Baguerpour posted a picture of Hezbollah’s flag over the weekend with a message saying that the militia “will emerge victorious.” The Lebanese group and Israel have been engaged in fighting for more than ten months, mainly on their common border.