Britain shut down the Iranian embassy in London and expelled all its staff on Wednesday, saying the storming of the British diplomatic mission in Tehran could not have taken place without some degree of consent from Iranian authorities.
Foreign Secretary William Hague also said the British Embassy in Tehran had been closed and all staff evacuated following the attack on Tuesday by a crowd who broke through gates, ransacked offices and burnt British flags in a protest over sanctions imposed by Britain on the Tehran government.
It was the most violent incident so far as relations between the two countries worsened due to a wider dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Hague said Iranian ambassadors across the European Union had been summoned to receive strong protests over the incident. But Britain stopped short of severing ties with Iran completely.
“The Iranian charge in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours,” Hague told parliament.
Hague said it was “fanciful” to think the Iranian authorities could not have protected the British embassy, or that the assault could have taken place without “some degree of regime consent.”
“This does not amount to the severing of diplomatic relations their entirety. It is action that reduces our relations with Iran to the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations,” he added.
