TEHERAN/LONDON - Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the British charge d'affaires to protest "suspicious and unjustified" arrests of several Iranians in Britain on "false" charges and "unrealistic" accusations against Teheran.

In the absence of the British ambassador, the British envoy was summoned by Shahram Ghazi-Zadeh, director of the Third Western Europe Department of the foreign ministry, after the British police said Saturday they had charged three Iranians, arrested earlier, with "suspected espionage for Iran's intelligence services" between August 2024 and February 2025.

The Iranian diplomat called on the British government to clarify the reasons and legal bases for detaining the Iranian nationals, voicing Teheran's strong protest against the move and what it described as "unrealistic" accusations against Iran.

He underlined Iran's "principled and responsible" commitment to respecting the rules and regulations of other countries, stressing that the arrest of Iranian nationals without presenting evidence, the deliberate delay in notifying the Iranian embassy in London, and the denial of consular access and support all violated established norms of international law and human rights.

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Ghazi-Zadeh urged the British government to adhere to its obligations under relevant international treaties, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, warning that Britain would be held responsible for the consequences of such inappropriate actions, which he said appeared politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Iran.

The British police said in a statement on Saturday that the three men -- identified as Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori -- had been charged under the National Security Act following a major counterterrorism investigation.

UK summons Iranian ambassador

The British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) also summoned Iran's ambassador in response to a diplomatic tension following charges against the three Iranian nationals under the National Security Act.

"The UK government is clear that protecting national security remains our top priority and Iran must be held accountable for its actions," the FCDO said in a statement released Monday.

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According to the British police, the three men allegedly conducted activities in assisting Iran's intelligence service between Aug 14, 2024, and Feb 16, 2025. Sepahvand faces an additional charge of carrying out "surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research" with the intent to commit serious violence against a person in the UK.

Manesh and Noori are accused of engaging in conduct intended to enable others to carry out serious violence against a person in Britain.

Earlier this month, London's Metropolitan Police announced the arrests of five Iranian nationals over an alleged plot to target "specific premises," without disclosing the intended location.