DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Fraught relations between London and Tehran reached a new low this week after Iranian lawmakers voted to sever diplomatic ties with the U.K.
The decision, by a committee in the Iranian Parliament, follows comments by the British ambassador to Iran over the human rights record in the Islamic republic.
It underlines growing anger in Tehran over the perceived role played by foreign powers in the country’s domestic affairs.
“It is time we gave a decisive response to Britain and showed that the Iranian nation will not remain indifferent to such clear insults and flagrant interferences,” lawmaker Aziz Akbarian told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Wednesday.
The decision, if approved by the fuller Parliament, threatens to send out mixed messages on the country’s foreign policy.
Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad abruptly sacked the country’s foreign minister, and his replacement at the weekend called for greater cooperation with Europe.
In a statement posted on the embassy’s website on International Human Rights Day earlier this month, British Ambassador Simon Gass made scathing criticism over the country’s record in suppressing dissents following the disputed elections last year.
“International Human Rights Day is highlighting the cases of those people around the world who stand up for the rights of others—the lawyers, journalists, and workers who place themselves at risk to defend their countrymen,” Gass said.
“Nowhere are they under greater threat than in Iran.”
Iran is accused of torture of opposition supporters following a crackdown on the widespread protests that swept the capital following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.
However, in an apparent retort, Iranian lawmakers accused Britain of double standards on democracy when U.K. police attempted to control students protesting tuition fees in London in recent weeks.
“The attitude of the British police to students showed that stick and whip are the symbols of the country’s human rights,” Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Hossein Nejad-Fallah told the semi-official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The decision to sever ties, on Sunday, was made by the national security and foreign policy committee, and still needs the approval of the Iranian Parliament as well as the Foreign Ministry.
Gala Riani, research analyst for Middle East and North Africa at IHS Global Insight, said that the vote reflects “growing anger and sensitivities in Iran over alleged foreign involvement in their internal affairs.
“So far it seems more symbolic than anything else, and the bill is unlikely to move very far ahead as this would be a very strong move that would probably not be favored by the government or the supreme leader.”
“Nevertheless, this type of mentality among many lawmakers and officials represents the increasingly difficult political environment in which foreign governments and companies are having to deal with Iran.”
The vote follows increasingly fraught relations between the two countries. Late last year, the BBC’s Persian-language service accused Tehran of jamming its signal into the country after the broadcaster aired reports of protesters being beaten by police.
This week, the Guardian newspaper reported that officials in the U.K. were considering limiting the broadcast of Press TV, the Iranian state equivalent of the BBC, citing secret diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks.
“However, U.K. law sets a very high standard for denying licenses to broadcasters,” the cable said.
“Licenses can only be denied in cases where national security is threatened, or if granting a license would be contrary to Britain’s obligations under international law. Currently, neither of these standards can be met with respect to Press TV, but if further sanctions are imposed on Iran in the coming months, a case may be able to be made on the second criterion.”
The decision, by a committee in the Iranian Parliament, follows comments by the British ambassador to Iran over the human rights record in the Islamic republic.
It underlines growing anger in Tehran over the perceived role played by foreign powers in the country’s domestic affairs.
“It is time we gave a decisive response to Britain and showed that the Iranian nation will not remain indifferent to such clear insults and flagrant interferences,” lawmaker Aziz Akbarian told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Wednesday.
The decision, if approved by the fuller Parliament, threatens to send out mixed messages on the country’s foreign policy.
Last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad abruptly sacked the country’s foreign minister, and his replacement at the weekend called for greater cooperation with Europe.
In a statement posted on the embassy’s website on International Human Rights Day earlier this month, British Ambassador Simon Gass made scathing criticism over the country’s record in suppressing dissents following the disputed elections last year.
“International Human Rights Day is highlighting the cases of those people around the world who stand up for the rights of others—the lawyers, journalists, and workers who place themselves at risk to defend their countrymen,” Gass said.
“Nowhere are they under greater threat than in Iran.”
Iran is accused of torture of opposition supporters following a crackdown on the widespread protests that swept the capital following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.
However, in an apparent retort, Iranian lawmakers accused Britain of double standards on democracy when U.K. police attempted to control students protesting tuition fees in London in recent weeks.
“The attitude of the British police to students showed that stick and whip are the symbols of the country’s human rights,” Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Hossein Nejad-Fallah told the semi-official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The decision to sever ties, on Sunday, was made by the national security and foreign policy committee, and still needs the approval of the Iranian Parliament as well as the Foreign Ministry.
Gala Riani, research analyst for Middle East and North Africa at IHS Global Insight, said that the vote reflects “growing anger and sensitivities in Iran over alleged foreign involvement in their internal affairs.
“So far it seems more symbolic than anything else, and the bill is unlikely to move very far ahead as this would be a very strong move that would probably not be favored by the government or the supreme leader.”
“Nevertheless, this type of mentality among many lawmakers and officials represents the increasingly difficult political environment in which foreign governments and companies are having to deal with Iran.”
The vote follows increasingly fraught relations between the two countries. Late last year, the BBC’s Persian-language service accused Tehran of jamming its signal into the country after the broadcaster aired reports of protesters being beaten by police.
This week, the Guardian newspaper reported that officials in the U.K. were considering limiting the broadcast of Press TV, the Iranian state equivalent of the BBC, citing secret diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks.
“However, U.K. law sets a very high standard for denying licenses to broadcasters,” the cable said.
“Licenses can only be denied in cases where national security is threatened, or if granting a license would be contrary to Britain’s obligations under international law. Currently, neither of these standards can be met with respect to Press TV, but if further sanctions are imposed on Iran in the coming months, a case may be able to be made on the second criterion.”
