Iran summons Turkmenistan envoy

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 19 – Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Turkmenistan’s envoy in Tehran on Monday, state media reported. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 19 – Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Turkmenistan’s envoy in Tehran on Monday, state media reported.

Turkmenistan’s current ranking envoy in Tehran appeared at the Foreign Ministry in the place of the absent ambassador to hear complaints over “continuous mal-treatment” of Iranian drivers near depots in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat by the Central Asian country’s police force, the government-owned news agency Mehr said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also protested over the treatment of several Iranians being held in prison in Ashgabat.

Since 11 February, car drivers in Turkmenistan have had to pay eight times more for their petrol as part of an effort to push the Soviet-style economy towards a free-market model.