Georgian Parliament official calls on Iranian envoy to stay within diplomatic protocol

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday called on Seyed Ali Moujan, Iran’s Ambassador to Georgia, to stay within the bounds of diplomatic protocol and refrain from commenting on historical issues.

Samkharadze said it was not the first time the Iranian Ambassador had made what he described as ambiguous statements, including remarks related to historical matters.

Samkharadze was commenting on a social media post by the Ambassador, in which he said he would soon share the results of his preliminary research on Queen Ketevan, along with documents and historical sources preserved in Iran and Georgia.

According to the post, the material would not represent an official position or claim to offer a definitive account of Queen Ketevan’s history, but rather a historian’s personal assessment based on the current stage of research. The Ambassador added that the findings could be expanded, analysed, reviewed or revised in the future through additional sources and joint research by Georgian and Iranian scholars.

Samkharadze said the issue would be discussed with Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili upon her return to Georgia.

“I want to remind him that, at one point, Georgia and Persia did not have good relations. There is a difficult history, and this is a sensitive issue for every Georgian. I advise him to stay within the bounds of diplomatic protocol and refrain from historical digressions, as this is not his business. If he wants normal relations between the two countries to be maintained, he should refrain from such outbursts”, Samkharadze said.