24 April 2012
Last updated at 06:30 ET
Iran says it has called home a diplomat who is accused of molesting girls at a swimming pool in Brazil and will investigate him.
The official was arrested following the alleged incident in Brasilia, but freed after invoking diplomatic immunity.
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said the man, named as Hekmatollah Ghorbani, would be “dealt with”.
He added that reporting of the story was intended to damage ties between the two countries.
The diplomat, who has been in his post for two years, was accused of inappropriately touching girls aged between nine and 15 at a private swimming pool in Brasilia last week.
Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said the allegations were “very worrying” and asked Iran to investigate.
Speaking on Iran’s state news channel, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast defended the diplomat, who is 51 and married with children, saying the allegations were a result of a “cultural misunderstanding”.
He said western media’s reporting of the alleged incident was being used for “political gain” against Iran.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to pay an official visit to Brazil in the “near future”, he said.
But Mr Mehmanparast said being at a mixed-sex swimming pool was considered “a disciplinary violation” and that Mr Ghorbani had been “summoned home at once”.
Under Iranian law, men and women of any age are not allowed to share a swimming pool.
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