Following a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and British Foreign Secretary William Hague in Afghanistan, several Iranian MPs have warned against establishing relations with Britain.
“What Britain did was withdrawing all diplomatic staff from its embassy in Tehran. Therefore, the downgrade in relations between the two countries, which is like a complete cut-off of relations, will be considered as Britain’s fault. However, Iran has no intention of establishing ambassador-level diplomatic relations with Britain”, said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran’s Parliament.
Furthermore, Iranian MP for Tehran, Ahmad Nejabat warned against any negotiations with Britain. Seyyed Bagher Hoseini, member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran’s Parliament also said the resumption of relations with Britain would not be possible “considering Britain’s track record in intervening in our domestic issues and offending the jurisdiction of Iranian people and officials”.
Britain’s long-running hostilities toward the Iranian nation have outraged Iranians throughout history and still contribute to a negative feeling toward Britain among the Iranian public.
Prior to the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), British Empire’s largest company, 85% of the company’s profits belonged to Britain as the company refrained from making its financial records known to the Iranian government.
In the early 1950s, Britain imposed an oil embargo on the Iranian oil in retaliation to the Iranian nation’s desire, led by Iran’s first democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, to reclaim their oil industry and nationalize it.
Furthermore, in 1951, Britain that was outraged by Mossadegh’s unimaginable step to nationalize Iran’s oil industry, asked the-then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to join it in a plot staging a coup and overthrowing Mossadegh.
Britain’s long history of hostilities towards the Iranian nation still continues instantiated in the UK-drafted EU embargo on Iran’s oil earlier this year and its insistence on depriving the Iranian nation of their right to enrich uranium.
ISH/BGH/HE
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