The Australian ambassador to Iran has been summoned to offices in the nation’s capital over an Instagram post the embassy shared in support of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Ian McConville was summoned to the foreign ministry office in Tehran, Iran’s capital, after the official consular Instagram posted a photo and message for Wear It Purple Day, Iran news agency ILNA reports.
Wear It Purple is an annual awareness day which aims to support the LGBTIQ+ community in Australia.
State media in Iran, where same-sex relations are illegal, said the post was “norm-breaking” and “promoted sexuality.”
ILNA quoted McConville as saying the post was not intended to insult the Iranian people and their Islamic values.
The post, originally written in Farsi, remains live on the Australia In Iran embassy Instagram page.
“Let’s keep championing diversity and inclusion for a brighter, more inclusive future.”
LGBTIQ+ communities in Iran have long protested the country’s laws on homosexuality.
Iranian law considers same-sex relations as a crime and it carries the maximum penalty of death.
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