Iran: Parliament votes to expel UK ambassador

Iran’s parliament voted today to expel Britain's ambassador to Iran and downgrade Iran’s economic and trade ties with the UK.

If the motion is approved as expected by Iran’s Guardian Council, which watches over Iran’s constitution, Dominick Chilcott, Britain’s ambassador to Tehran, would have to leave in two weeks, the Financial Times reported.

According to the Telegraph:

The step was taken after Britain, Canada and the United States announced fresh sanctions against Iran last week in the wake of a report by UN weapons inspectors, which provided the most compelling case yet that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear bomb. Britain was singled out, however, after it became the first state to impose direct sanctions on Iran's central bank.

It’s the first time since World War II that Britain has imposed a complete boycott on the entire banking industry of a foreign state, the Telegraph reported.

"The British government should know that if they insist on their evil stances, the Iranian people will punch them in the month, exactly as happened against America's den of spies," legislator Mehdi Kuchakzadeh told the house, according to the Telegraph.

"The Iranian parliament's vote to expel our ambassador is regrettable," the UK Foreign Office said in a statement, the Guardian reported. "This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation or international concerns about their nuclear program and human rights record. If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners."

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