The Iranian Foreign Ministry has protested at the mistreatment of the country's nationals by Georgian border guards.

The Foreign Ministry’s director general for consular affairs in a meeting with Georgian Ambassador to Tehran Ioseb Chakhvashvili complained about the unfriendly behavior of certain Georgian border officials towards Iranian citizens.

The Iranian diplomat also said that a rise in the number of deportations runs contrary to a bilateral agreement on visa free travel and growing ties between Tehran and Tbilisi.

The Georgian envoy, for his part, voiced regret over the recent developments and underlined the importance of bilateral ties.

He also stressed the Georgian government and the nation’s respect for the Iranian people.

The Georgian envoy vowed to follow up the declared concerns.

About 200 Iranians were deported from land and air borders of Georgia in recent days.

In relevant remarks earlier this week, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said the deportations had various reasons, adding, "Some of the nationals had no initial documents to enter Georgia, while several other deportees had sufficient documents.”

Georgian officials cast doubt on the accuracy of the reports, and have vowed to inform the Iranian embassy in Tbilisi about the issue.

(Source: Fars)