Press TV - Iran has summoned Hungary�s ambassador to Tehran to protest an �unacceptable� decision by the Budapest government to expel over a dozen Iranian students suspected of having contracted a new coronavirus, which has been spreading fast in many world countries.


Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi summoned Zoltan Varga-Haszonits on Tuesday to convey Tehran�s protest at the move.

He called on the Hungarian diplomat to inform his country�s authorities about Iran�s request to revise the decision.

The Iranian official also slammed the �unconventional behavior� of police and medical staff of a hospital in Budapest towards two Iranian students said to have tested positive for COVID-19, as the virus is called.

He said the Hungarian government is responsible to provide the Iranian students residing in the country with appropriate medical and health services.

The Hungarian ambassador, for his part, briefed the Iranian diplomat about his country�s measures to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus and said that he would convey the Iranian government�s protest to the officials at his home country as soon as possible.

The Hungarian Interior Ministry reported on Monday that authorities had expelled 13 Iranian students from the country and from the territory of the European Union for allegedly violating quarantine rules.

The ministry claimed in a statement that the students had been quarantined at St L�szl� hospital due to the coronavirus, but, according to the authorities, they had left their rooms and behaved aggressively with the health staff.

Two Iranian students had been expelled from the country on Friday for similar alleged misdemeanor.

Around 2,500 Iranian students are studying in universities across Hungary.

The virus first emerged in China�s Hubei Province in late December and later reached other countries across all continents, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the disease as a pandemic.

In Iran, the total number of infections has reached 16,169. Also, the fatality count increased to 988, with 135 news deaths, according to the latest figures provided by the Health Ministry. A total of 5,389 patients have fully recovered.