Rome Summons Iran's Charge d'Affaires over Mission Attack

Iran's charge d'affaires in Rome, Mehdi Akouchekian, was on Thursday summoned by Italy's foreign ministry following the "intolerable" attack by protesters on Britain's embassy in Tehran.

The Italian government expressed its "strong condemnation" of the "violent and intolerable" attack and stressed its "solidarity with the British government," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Italy will evaluate, along with other European Union countries, how to react to make sure such an episode will not happen again," it said.

Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said Wednesday that he was considering closing the Italian embassy in Tehran.

"Italy expects from Iran strong and clear guarantees on respecting the fundamental principles of sanctity of diplomatic-consular representatives," the statement said.

Akouchekian expressed Iran's "regret" for the protesters' "unacceptable behavior" and assured Italy that "urgent and necessary measures will be adopted."

He assured the foreign ministry of Iran's "commitment to protect and safeguard the diplomatic and consular offices in Tehran."

Britain's mission was attacked on Tuesday by protesters angry over new British sanctions against Iran's financial system that followed a recent U.N. report containing evidence that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.