WANA (Jan 13) – Iran’s Foreign Minister reacted on Tuesday to the European Parliament’s decision to bar Iranian diplomats from entering the institution, saying that while Iran does not seek hostility with the European Union, it will retaliate against any restrictive measures.

 

Speaking in response to the move, Seyed Abbas Araghchi noted that more than two years of what he called a genocide in Gaza, which he said has claimed 70,000 Palestinian lives, had not pushed the European Parliament to take any meaningful action against Israel.

 

He continued that even though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being pursued by the International Criminal Court on war-crimes charges, “he flies freely over European airspace,” while only a few days of violent unrest in Iran were enough for the European Parliament to prohibit Iranian diplomats from entering its building.

 

Posting on X, the foreign minister wrote that “people are not stupid; they can see with their own eyes what is happening.” He added that Iran does not seek confrontation with the European Union, “but will retaliate against any restrictions.”