LOS ANGELES, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Iran's previously correct, if not cordial relations with Britain have taken a hammering in recent weeks following the detention of a former prominent Iranian diplomat there
, and the Iranian media has reflected the outcry
, and the increasing sense of isolation, that has followed from it.
The arrest in Britain of former Iranian ambassador to Argentina, Hadi Soleimanpour, in connection with the bombing nearly a decade ago of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aries caused a severe reaction from the Iranian government and media. On Aug. 25, the hard-line daily newspaper Ressalat wrote: "Britain should apologize to Iran because of the arrest."
The newspaper Ettelaat tried to put a more cautious, even optimistic face on the event
, claiming in a commentary that a British Embassy official in Tehran had told foreign reporters that Soleimanpour's arrest had no political motivation and that it had been Argentina's order to arrest him.
Following the tumult over Soleimanpour's detention
, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sept. 3 a shooting incident at the British Embassy in Tehran at midday local time. IRNA reported: "The incident came after Britain denied that there were any plans to recall its ambassador to Tehran following Iranian Ambassador Morteza Sarmadi returning for "consultations" over the arrest of former Iranian ambassador to Argentina Hadi Soleimanpour."
The shooting incident did not cause any injuries, but it has made Tehran-London relations more complicated. The Embassy was closed until further notice. But IRNA reported a British Foreign Office spokesman in London as saying this was just "temporarily." The spokesman also told IRNA that Britain's Ambassador to Tehran Richard Dalton had been in contact with the Iranian Foreign Ministry about the incident.
IRNA also cited British news reports that Iran was considering downgrading bilateral relations by expelling Dalton from Tehran.
Ettelaat on Sept. 3 reported that Iran's ambassador to Britain, Morteza Sarmadi, has returned to Tehran, but the paper claimed this had nothing to do with the deterioration of Anglo-Iranian relations. Ettelaat quoted an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying: "Mr. Sarmadi has returned to Iran for some consultations."
Meanwhile, Iranian officials continue to emphasize their good relations with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Authority. IRNA on Sept. 1 quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi as confirming that Iran had allowed IAEA inspectors to take samples at its nuclear sites.
Asefi described this act as a" major development" and announced that Iran's readiness to sign the additional protocol to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty was a sign of Iran's "good will," IRNA reported Sept. 1.
However, also on Sept. 1
, the daily Keyhan, a voice for Iranian hardliners
, called for Iran's withdrawal from NPT. Firing a warning shot at the relatively moderate pragmatists around President Mohammed Khatami, the paper argued
, "Signing the additional protocol will bring obstacles for Iranian nuclear program aimed at applying nuclear energy for civilian purposes."
Keyhan also argued that signing the protocol would be detrimental to Iran's national interest. European Union Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Javier Solana "told the press conference in Tehran that there will be bad news for Iran if it refuses to sign the additional protocol; but
, we say that signing the protocol will be the 'worst'"
, the paper said.
(Mojdeh Sionit is a former Iranian journalist now resident in the United States.)
