Foreign ministry of the interim government in east Libya has regarded the reopening of the Italian embassy and return of Italian ambassador Giuseppe Perrone to Tripoli as a military offensive.

The government, headed by Abdullah Al-Thanni, sent a “very urgent” diplomatic note on Wednesday to all Libyan embassies and consulates abroad to inform them about what it called “the military return of the Italian embassy to the capital.”

“An Italian military vessel loaded with soldiers and ammunition has entered the Libyan territorial waters. It is a clear violation of UN charter and a form of repeated aggression.” The note read.

Ambassador Perrone submitted his credentials in Tripoli on Tuesday to mark the reopening of his country’s embassy in the Libyan capital.

A number of political commentators have deplored the hostile language in the diplomatic note of Al-Thanni government, saying its denouncement of the entry of the Italian military vessel is double standards.

“The Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, entered the Libyan territorial waters and was visited by General Khalifa Haftar without any comments from the interim government,” a political commentator reacted.