The British and Russian ambassadors to Iran have angered Tehran after imitating a World War Two image of Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, when Iran was under Allied occupation.
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the image as "extremely inappropriate". The picture shows ambassadors, Simon Shercliff and Levan Dzhagaryan, sitting on chairs on the steps of the Russian embassy in Tehran.
The Russian embassy posted the photo of the two diplomats. They later said no harm was intended, and that Russians only meant to pay tribute to the Allied fight against Nazi Germany.
It recalled a photo taken of allied leaders Stalin, Churchill and US President Franklin D Roosevelt when they met for the first time at the Tehran conference in 1943. At the time, Iran was occupied by Russian and British forces.
"Need I remind all that August 2021 is neither August 1941 nor December 1943," Iran’s Foreign Minister wrote on Twitter.
"The Iranian people have shown - including during the JCPOA [nuclear] talks that their destiny can NEVER be subject to decisions in foreign embassies or by foreign powers."
The Russian embassy responded to the "ambiguous reaction" to the image, saying it "does not have an anti-Iranian context".
