“This is a hostile US move against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Poland is expected to refrain from keeping the US company in holding such a conference,” the head of Eastern Europe affairs at the Foreign Ministry told Wojciech Unolt, Tasnim News reported on Sunday.
Warsaw will host a Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, a conference staged jointly with the United States, on February 13 – 14.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said a focus of the meeting would be “making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”
According to Iranian media, Unolt explained that Poland’s stance differs from Pompeo’s.
The official communiqué from the Polish and American governments announcing the summit does not mention Iran. It describes the meeting as a forum to discuss issues of terrorism, missile development, trade, security, and threats from proxy groups across the Middle East.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not accept Unolt’s explanation and demanded the Polish government distance itself from the US in this matter or Tehran “will have to take retaliatory measures.”
Iran has been pushing its historical ties with Poland in its reactions to the announced summit.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif pointed out that Iran hosted Polish refugees during World War Two.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi noted that over 100,000 Poles released from Soviet Union Gulag camps returned to their homes via Iran and 1,892 Polish people are buried in a cemetery in Tehran.
“Iranians have continued to respect their Polish guests for 77 years,” he tweeted.
The Polish embassy in Tehran has not immediately commented on the meeting.
Europe has maintained ties with Iran, staying committed to the nuclear deal after Washington pulled out last year.
Poland, however, has said it understands Washington's concerns about Iran and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last May offered to act as a go-between to explain US and EU positions to each other.
