The Norwegian Foreign Ministry asked an Iranian diplomat to leave Norway in response to Iranian authorities’ asking a Norwegian diplomat to leave Iran. In this context the Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that Norway does not want to negatively affect relations between the two countries, but at the same time it is not possible for Norway not to react.

These developments come after Norway granted political asylum to the Iranian Consul who resigned from his position in the Iranian Embassy in Oslo, as an expression of his opposition to the methods of the Iranian authorities in dealing with demonstrations in Tehran in the recent presidential elections. The Foreign Minister said that Norway wants a productive relation with Iran, although he opposed Iranian response, adding that all requests for asylum where studied by immigration officials in Norway according to international laws.

Norwegian Newspapers