Dame Priti Patel has demanded the closure of the Ayatollah’s office in London after slamming Sir Keir Starmer’s “dereliction of duty”.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary further pressed the Prime Minister to expel all Iranian representatives linked to the regime, adding it was “astonishing” such action had not already been taken.
Asked if the Ayatollah’s office in the UK capital should be closed, the Tory MP nodded, resolutely saying: “It should be shut down. And the representatives there should be expelled from our country.”
Dame Priti told Camilla Tominey: “I think it’s astonishing that our own Foreign Secretary hasn’t taken any action whatsoever, or expelled the Iranian representatives that are based in this country representing the regime.
“Iran is a threat to our country.”
She added: “This is a serious moment. Iran is a threat to our country. Threat to our military bases, our personnel, and to our citizens around the world. And the Government now needs to step up and take action. It has sat on the fence for far too long.”
Sir Keir and Defence Secretary John Healey have both refused to explicitly support the US-Israeli strikes on Iran yesterday morning – despite critics and activists demanding a statement.
“I’m afraid when our country is under threat from Iran, we just can’t continue to sit this out anymore,” Dame Priti added. “We have to use our national security means we have to protect the national security of our country.
“We have to protect our citizens. And Keir Starmer constantly chooses to opt out from taking any action, which I think is just unbelievable and it’s a dereliction of his duty.”
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