Iran on Thursday summoned the Italian ambassador, as Rome had done two days earlier, to criticize Tehran’s response to protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in custody.
The 22-year-old Iranian Kurd died on September 16 after being arrested in Tehran by “deputy police” for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
Iranian officials say hundreds of people have been killed, including members of the security forces, and thousands have been arrested in the protests that followed.
Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement released Thursday evening that it had subpoenaed Giuseppe Perrone to protest “the continued interventionist statements and actions by some Italian officials in Iran’s internal affairs.”
“Selective double standard approaches to human rights are totally unacceptable and are opposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
Iran has summoned more than a dozen ambassadors from Western countries, including Britain, France and Germany, since the protests began.
On Tuesday, Italy summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the Iranian security forces’ “unacceptable” response to the demonstrators.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani previously called the situation in Iran an “unacceptable disgrace” and said Rome had taken a “hard line” in defending women.
The Iranian authorities mainly accuse their archenemies, the United States, but also some European countries, of fomenting so-called “unrest”.