Increased London anger against Iran

Thursday, 2 July 2009 12:00 AM

By Alex Stevenson

Britain is considering suspending 'normal' relations with Iran in the wake of a series of diplomatically provocative incidents in the unstable Middle Eastern country.

Senior figures in Iran accused Britain of fomenting unrest following the recent disputed election and last weekend nine UK diplomats were arrested.

All but one have now been released but the Foreign Office remains in no mood to give ground to the Iranian regime.

Instead politics.co.uk understands London's main hope lies in persuading the 19 EU countries which have embassies in Tehran to withdraw their ambassadors.

Such a move would have an impact on Iran, it is believed, but it is not clear whether the usually divided EU would be able to come together on the issue.

If that fails Britain may be forced to resort to pushing for sanctions at the UN, targeting Iran's economic reliance on importing oil.

Relations between Britain and Iran have been poor in recent months, with issues like the operation of British schools, the British Council and access to the embassy compound proving contentious.

The kidnapping of British sailors in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway which divides Iraq and Iran prompted more than a diplomatic spat in 2007. A lesser-publicised incident occurred in 2004 when eight service personnel were detained by Iranian authorities.

Relations with Iran have been troubled ever since and foreign secretary David Miliband has not met his Iranian counterpart.

With the clock ticking over the nuclear issue - experts fear Iran will acquire the ability to make atomic material for a bomb by the end of the year - the UK may push for sanctions at the UN if concessions are not made soon.

The Foreign Office has several months to sound out world opinion on this. In the short-term it faces a more pressing choice: whether to attend Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inauguration.

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• foreign policy
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• iran
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• middle east