TEHRAN: Iran summoned Britain’s top diplomat in Tehran Thursday to reject accusations that the Islamic Republic was helping Syria crush anti-government protests.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry official told British charge d’affaires Jane  Marriott that charges leveled by Foreign Secretary William Hague were “without any evidence or reason,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

Hague told Parliament this week that Tehran, an ally of Syria’s in its support for Hamas and Hezbollah, had been helping to suppress protests where rights groups say hundreds of Syrians may have been killed.
“Iran is combining brutal suppression of opposition leaders at home with the provision of equipment and technical advice to help the Syrian regime crush protests in Syria,” Hague said.
“This is unacceptable, and compounds our concern about Iran’s behavior and its intentions over its nuclear program.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said: “There is no justification for the British government to raise such charges against other countries because of its own meddlesome measures and destructive role in developments in the region, especially the training of military forces in some countries in order to suppress the people.”
In London, a spokesman for the British Foreign Office said that Britain stood by allegations that Iran is helping the Syrian regime.

“We remain extremely concerned by the Iranian government’s repression of its own people and its support for violent elements in the region … We have seen credible information suggesting Iran is helping Syria with the suppression of protests there.”