The Iranian Ministry for Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the reasons behind the recent defections of diplomats are more personal than political.
In September two Iranian diplomats have sought asylum in Europe - one in Finland, one in Norway.
"Nobody in the foreign ministry believes their intentions were political. This can mostly be seen as their preferring their personal interests to the national interest", the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in Tehran.
Mehmanparast expressed astonishment at the diplomats’ decision to seek asylum now, more than a year after the controversial Presidential elections, which were held in the summer of 2009. Hossein Alizadeh, the No.2 official at the Iranian Embassy in Helsinki, has reported that he resigned from his diplomatic post as a protest against the fraudulent elections and the suppression of the opposition.
Alizadeh also said that he feared for his own safety.
