الرئيسية
Angry demonstrators tread on a British flag before
burning it opposite the British embassy in Tehran, 2006. Iranian
lawmakers voted to consider expelling Britain's ambassador in
retaliation for newly imposed Western sanctions, said the parliamentary
website.(AFP/File/Atta Kenare)
By Marc Burleigh, AFP
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Wednesday looked to expelling the
British ambassador in angry retaliation for fresh Western sanctions over
its nuclear programme, which have been slammed by both China and
Russia.
Iranian lawmakers, some crying "Death to Britain",
adopted an emergency bill to be voted on Sunday that would downgrade
diplomatic relations to the level of charge d'affaires if passed, the
legislature's website said.
The bill also said parliament could
take action "on other countries that behave in a manner similar to that
of Britain," according to the Fars and Mehr news agencies.
Britain
this week, in coordination with the United States and Canada, announced
the new sanctions on Iran. They cited as justification a report by the
UN atomic energy watchdog this month suggesting Tehran was researching
nuclear weapons.
Britain said it was "ceasing all contact"
between its financial system and that of Iran. The United States and
Canada said they would also clamp down on the sector, including on
Iran's central bank.
France has called for a freeze on Iranian central bank assets and an embargo on oil exports.
Britain,
Canada and France have embassies in Tehran. Canada's is headed only by a
charge d'affaires; the other two by ambassadors.
The United
States does not have a diplomatic mission, having closed its embassy
after Islamic students took its diplomats hostage in 1979 following
Iran's revolution. US interests are handled by the Swiss embassy.
China
on Wednesday criticised the Western sanctions, saying they would
"exacerbate" the stand-off over Iran's nuclear activities.
"We
believe pressuring and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve the Iranian
nuclear issue. On the contrary, they will complicate and exacerbate the
issue and intensify confrontation," said foreign ministry spokesman Liu
Weimin.
Russia on Tuesday blasted the sanctions as "unacceptable and against international law."
China
and Russia have used their weight on the UN Security Council to block
any possibility of the sanctions being more broadly imposed through a UN
resolution.
Iran is already subject to four sets of UN
sanctions. It has rejected the UN atomic energy agency's report, and
insists its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful, civilian
purposes.
The latest sanctions put more pressure on Iran's
financial sector, with the US and Britain invoking anti-terrorist laws
to target the central bank and other financial institutions.
They aim to make it more difficult for Iran to be paid for its oil exports, and put pressure on Iran's currency.
They
stop short, however, of hitting the central bank with more draconian
measures, which Western officials and analysts feared could cause a
spike in oil prices, worsening the global economic downturn and
providing Iran with a revenue windfall.
Iran's representative in
OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told ISNA news agency his country could
"adopt special stances" in terms of using its vast oil exports as a
political tool if "emergencies and special situations demand."
He stressed, though, that Iran was not at this time changing its approach in the global oil market.
Pressure
on Iran looked likely to be raised a notch on December 1, when EU
foreign ministers were expected to announce additional sanctions on some
200 Iranian firms and individuals, according to diplomats.
US
President Barack Obama said in a statement Monday as the latest
sanctions were unveiled: "As long as Iran continues down this dangerous
path, the United States will continue to find ways, both in concert with
our partners and through our own actions, to isolate and increase the
pressure upon the Iranian regime."
