London- In response to Theresa May’s remarks during the recent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting, Spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Britain has always sought to tear down bilateral ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and neighboring states, including Arab ones.

During GCC’s annual summit in the Bahraini capital Manama on Wednesday, May said she was “clear-eyed” about what she called “the threat” Iran poses to the region.

May had also stressed England would help the council “push back” against what she branded Iran’s “aggressive regional actions.”

“The remarks by England’s prime minister have nothing to do with the realities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and testify to England’s divisive policy,” said Boroujerdi.

Boroujerdi further saw the comments unfitting for ambassadorial-level relations between to Tehran and London, threatening to re-downgrade relations.

The official went on to stress that these propagandas influence Arab States of the Gulf and the British take the opportunity to sell billions of dollars of weapons to them.

The remarks had already drawn strong condemnation from Iran’s Foreign Ministry which considers the remarks motivated by England’s efforts to win further lucrative arms deals with Arab countries.

Over the past five years, bilateral ties between Iran and England have seen both low and high points, yet on a sluggishly improving track.

In what was a low point in diplomacy between the two countries in November 2011, the Iranian Parliament voted to expel the British ambassador and reduce diplomatic relations with the country in retaliation for its new sanctions against Iran.

In September 2016, Iran and the United Kingdom restored relations to the highest level by assigning and dispatching their ambassadors to the other country each.

On Dec. 10, Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced that it had summoned the UK ambassador. “Following British Prime Minister Theresa May’s meddlesome remarks, Nicholas Hopton, the country’s ambassador to Tehran, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry today,” said spokesman Bahram Qassemi.

In response to a question about whether ties will be downgraded, government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht refrained from offering a clear response, saying only, “Certainly, her remarks are meddlesome and will cause insecurity in the region. It is not right for a person who comes from Europe to talk about the Gulf region.”