The picture, which was tweeted on Wednesday, shows a meeting between Russian and UK ambassadors to Iran on the veranda of the Russian Embassy in downtown Tehran, the site of a 1943 strategy meeting of the then ex-Soviet, US and British leaders — namely Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill — two years after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.
During the conference, the Allies agreed to open a new front against the then Nazi Germany about two years prior to the end of World War II, a decision that changed the fate of the war in favor of the trio.
However, the historical image of the so-called “Big Three” is infamous to the Iranian people since it is reminiscent of the violation of their country’s national sovereignty by the three countries, two of which had occupied Iran militarily despite the fact that Tehran had declared neutrality in the war.
The then Pahlavi regime in Iran had neither been informed of the vital meeting on Iranian soil nor invited to it.
“Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan’s meeting with the new head of the Flag of United Kingdom British diplomatic mission in Iran Simon Shercliff on the historical stair, where the 1943 Tehran conference was held,” read the caption of the image tweeted by the Russian Embassy in Tehran.
The image, however, drew anger and criticism among Iranians, with the country’s senior officials quickly reacting to the image that they viewed as an insult to the Islamic Republic.
Foreign Minister Zarif took to Twitter to denounce the image as “extremely inappropriate” and said, “Need I remind all that Aug. 2021 is neither Aug. 1941 nor Dec. 1943.”
“The Iranian people have shown — including during the JCPOA talks — that their destiny can NEVER be subject to decisions in foreign embassies or by foreign powers,” Zarif added, using an acronym for the official name of the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The talks culminated in 2015 in the signing of a multilateral nuclear deal on the Iranian nuclear program and resumed following the withdrawal of the US in May 2018.
During all the negotiations revolving around the deal, the Iranians have stood on their right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and against America’s attempts at imposing its own will on the nation.
Parliament chief demands apology
Similarly, Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qaibaf censured the meeting between the Russian and UK envoys as “inappropriate and inconsistent with diplomatic protocols,” calling on the Foreign Ministry to follow up on the insult.
“Both ambassadors must swiftly issue an official apology, otherwise firm diplomatic action will be necessary,” the Parliament chief.
Faced with the anger in Iran, the Russian Embassy tried to justify the meeting at the specific site with two more tweets on Thursday and said, “We would like to note that it does not have any anti-Iranian context. We were not going to offend the feelings of the friendly Iranian people.”
“The only meaning that this photo has to pay tribute to the joint efforts of the allied states against Nazism during the Second World War. Iran is our friend and neighbor, and we will continue to strengthen relations based on mutual respect,” it added.
Tehran has friendly, strategic relations with Moscow since both sides share similar positions on many regional and international issues; however, the post-Islamic Revolution Iran has time and again proved that it does not tolerate any attack on or insult to its sovereignty and independence — a red line for the nation — by either the Westerners or the Easterners.
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