Iran has urged Poland not to compromise mutual ties by hosting a US summit against Iran in the hope of currying favors with Washington.
“The great human heritage and relations between Iran and Poland should not be ignored and destroyed through a short-term and futile political measure,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told IRNA.
“It looks like Poland has ended up on the path of the White House's anti-Iranian behavior and policies as a result of the United States' promises and pressures,” he noted.
The official reminded that the countries' relations date back more than five centuries and that Iran hosted upwards of 120,000 Poles during World War II.
Warsaw hosts Iran-Poland Friendship Symbol, Qassemi said, advising Polish officials to pay a visit to the stone slate, which has been set up to honor the two countries' shared past.
Qassemi warned that Poland's decision will certainly be followed by Iran's “serious and uncompromising response,” and hoped that Warsaw will still reconsider hosting the event.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the summit was to go underway on February 13-14. He said it would focus on stability and security in the Middle East, including the “important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”
Qassemi said the summit represented US efforts to divide the European Union over Iran. He said the current antagonism on the part of American officials towards Iranians is no secret and that the gathering has been organized against the background of such animosity.
Warsaw's decision contradicts the EU's policies on Iran, the spokesman said, calling it “wrong and unacceptable.”
The EU has been trying to set up a mechanism to avoid US sanctions against Iran that came back into force after Washington quit a 2015 nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic.
'US to betray Poland'
Qassemi said that Polish officials are definitely wrong by assuming that hosting the US summit will help them gain special advantages.
“There has been no shortage of countries and leaders, who have committed such miscalculations concerning Iran. Eventually, however, they have been left with nothing beyond a bad and dark precedent in the annals of their relations with the Iranian nation,” the official said.