Diplomatic row: Iranian lawmakers for snapping ties with UK

Britain’s ambassador to Tehran criticised Iran’s human rights record.

TEHRAN: A committee in Iran’s parliament voted on Sunday to cut diplomatic relations with Britain, a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for “cooperation” with major powers.

The decision by parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, reported by the semi-official Fars news agency, followed criticism by Britain’s ambassador to Tehran of Iran’s human rights record.

“After voting by the committee, it was decided to have diplomatic relations completely severed with Britain, ” Fars quoted lawmaker Mohammad Karami-rad as saying.

If the motion is backed by the full parliament it would put pressure on the government to downgrade relations with Britain at a time when a new foreign minister has called for “positive interaction” with the European Union.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani has been a rival of Ahmadinejad’s since losing to him at the 2005 presidential election and the replacement of the foreign minister has fuelled tensions between the two men.

British Ambassador Simon Gass was summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry on Monday after criticising Iran’s human rights record on the embassy’s website.

Gass dismissed criticisms from lawmakers. “MPs claim to be offended by my statement. But Iranian leaders regularly abuse other countries including UK, ” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2010.