Iranian students pull down UK flag

Hundreds of Iranian students have pulled down the UK flag and demanded the expulsion of the British envoy to Tehran.

Following the approval of a bill aimed at downgrading ties with the UK by the Iran’s Majlis parliament, students from different universities stormed into the British embassy in Tehran, calling on the Iranian government to make haste in implementing the bill.

The bill, which was also approved unanimously by Iran’s Guardian Council (GC) on Monday, obliges the country’s Foreign Ministry to expel Dominick John Chilcott within two weeks, thus reducing diplomatic ties with the UK government to the level of charge d’affaires.

The motion to downgrade ties with London was first presented to the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in 2009, following the UK’s interference in post-election unrests in Iran.

The bill was revived in response to Britain’s hostile approach towards Iran and the sanctions imposed by London against the country’s banking system and energy sector in coordination with the US and Canada over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The sanctions were imposed after the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors on November 18 passed a resolution against Iran’s nuclear program based on the IAEA report which experts have dismissed as “unfounded, unbalanced and unprofessional.”

UK struggles to keep envoy in Iran
The British government has resorted to threats of international backlash after the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to expel British ambassador to Tehran.

British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, expressed his concerns over the Iranian MPs’ decision to expel Britain’s ambassador to Tehran saying such a decision would be “entirely counterproductive,” reported the Daily Telegraph on Monday.

Iranian lawmakers unanimously ratified legislation to downgrade ties with the British government to the level of charge d’affaires, a measure that was described by the Iranian lawmakers as a reasonable response to Britain’s long-lasting hostilities toward the Iranian nation throughout history both before and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Moreover, Iran’s Guardian Council, the Iranian government’s constitutional watchdog, approved the bill as the council’s spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodayee said the bill “is not in violation of the religious (Islamic) rules and the Constitution.”

The bill to downgrade ties with the British government was overwhelmingly approved by Iranian MPs on Sunday with 179 yes votes, 11 abstentions, and 4 oppositions that asked for cutting all ties with the British government.

British officials did not favor the Iranian Parliament’s decision, which was made after the British government announced it would cut all financial ties with Iran’s banks.

Hoping that Iran’s Guardian Council would not ratify the bill, a Foreign Office spokesperson described Iranian MPs’ vote as “regrettable.”

Moreover, struggling to prevent the Iranian government’s decision to downgrade its ties with London, Hague, who had already retreated from war rhetoric to “a negotiated solution,” threatened the Iranian nation with a “robust response.”

Hague who spoke of an open military option against Iran while the British media failed to mislead the public by fueling media hype over military action against Iran is now quoted saying the bill is “another sign of Iran’s continued unwillingness to enter into dialogue.”

British officials’ comments reveal the hypocritical nature of the British establishment as they accuse Iran of “unwillingness to enter into dialogue” while themselves continue to impose sanctions against the Iranian nation and bombard them with threats of military action.