On January 19, a senior Iranian official complained that Britain’s latest “positions” vis-à-vis Iran were undermining relations between the two countries. In a meeting with vising Britain's Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Tobias Ellwood in Tehran, Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Europe and America affairs, said the latest statements made by some British officials ran counter to agreements between the two countries aimed at improving bilateral ties.
Ravanchi’s did not provide details, but his remarks came a day after the British ambassador to the United Nations blasted the Iranian government’s destabilizing role in the region, particularly in Syria. On January 19, Matthew Rycroft stressed that despite the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Tehran’s behavior in the region has not changed and called on all UN Member States to continue to enforce existing sanctions. “The second phase of sanctions lifting, which will commence a maximum of eight years after Implementation Day provides a further incentive for Iran to comply with the deal, but we remain committed to ensure those sanctions which remain in place continue to be enforced robustly,” he emphasized.
The British diplomat also noted that Tehran provides “substantial military and financial support to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime,” and added that “senior Iranian individuals, listed under resolution 2231, continue to flout the travel ban imposed by this Council.” His last remark referred to Iran’s Quds Force Commander Qassem Suleimani, who was repeatedly photographed with Afghan, Lebanese and Iraqi Shiite militia units inside Syria last year. “These actions show that Iran chooses to complicate, not extinguish, a conflict that has persisted for far too long. And that is simply not the way to build our confidence,” he complained.
Rycroft’s remarks also prompted angry reactions in the Iranian state-run media.
Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), wrote that the British diplomat’s statements indicated “the continuation of malicious acts of the old fox [Britain].”
London and Tehran had recalled their ambassadors in 2011 after Iranian paramilitary forces stormed the British embassy in Tehran. Although the two countries restored full diplomatic ties last September, their relations remain shaky.
Last December, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s remarks at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit about the need to “push back against Iran’s aggressive” actions in the Middle East also provoked angry reactions and threats from Iranian leaders.
Speaking to leaders of the G.C.C. states in Bahrain, May said she was “clear-eyed” about Iran’s destabilizing role in the region, and emphasized that the United Kingdom wanted to “make a more permanent and more enduring commitment to the long-term security of the Gulf” – including about $3.8 billion in defense spending in the region over the next decade.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, warned that the parliament might consider downgrading diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom. “The British prime minister’s remarks are not compatible with ambassador-level relations,” he argued.
