TEHRAN, Iran

A photo of Russian and British envoys in Tehran, posted on Twitter by the Russian Embassy on Wednesday, has stirred up a hornet's nest, with top Iranian officials calling for apology.

The photo shows the new UK ambassador to Iran, Simon Shercliff, visiting the Russian Embassy and posing for a picture with his Russian counterpart Levan Dzhagaryan at the place where Tehran Conference was held in 1943, without informing Iranian officials.

Tehran Conference was a strategy meeting between Joseph Stalin of Soviet Union, Franklin Roosevelt of the US, and Winston Churchill of the UK, held in November 1943, two years after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.

The meeting, a dark event in the history of Iran, was held when Iran, despite its official neutrality in the World War II, was under Allied occupation and battling famine.

Reacting strongly to the published photo, Iran's outgoing Foreign Minister Javad Zarif dubbed it "extremely inappropriate".

"Need I remind all that Aug. 2021 is neither Aug. 1941 nor Dec. 1943," Zarif said on Twitter.

"The Iranian people have shown – including during the JCPOA talks – that their destiny can never be subject to decisions in foreign embassies or by foreign powers," he added.

Iran's parliament head Baqar Qalibaf also lashed out at the foreign diplomats, calling the action "far from diplomatic ethics and inappropriate," while demanding an apology.

Importantly, Tehran and Moscow are seen as close allies in the region, and this picture is likely to create diplomatic bad blood between the two countries.

Russian envoy summoned

Sayed Mohammad Marandi, a senior political analyst, said the ambassadors were "insulting all Iranians".

"The Tehran Conference was a violation of Iranian sovereignty and symbolic of the historic crimes committed by the US, Russia and UK against Iranians," Marandi said on Twitter.

"I have no expectations of UK diplomats, but why the Russian ambassador," he questioned.

The Russian Embassy in Tehran, following the backlash, released a statement on Thursday morning, saying the photo "does not have any anti-Iranian context".

"The only meaning that this photo has to pay tribute to the joint efforts of the allied states against Nazism during the Second World War," the embassy said. "Iran is our friend and neighbor, and we will continue to strengthen relations based on mutual respect."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian envoy to formally register its protest.

The envoy, according to sources, reiterated that the photo did not mean to undermine Iran, but only sought to emphasize Russian and British efforts against Nazi Germany.

He also "regretted" that the publication of the photo had "caused misunderstanding and resentment" among the people of Iran.

The ministry officials emphasized that the publication of the photo was "not necessary".