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Britain-Iran ties under strain as Tehran remains defiant

AFP, Tehran
*** BACKGROUND OF MISTRUST
The roots of the mutual distrust date back to the 1800s when Iran •- then known as Persia — was trapped in the colonial rivalry between Russia a nd Britain.
Britain never colonised Iran, but occupied the south in 1942. after ousting Reza Shah Pahlavi for his pro-Nazi sympathies.
In 1953, nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh was overthrown in a CIA-organised coup after he nationalised the Anglo-Iranian oil company, the forerunner to British Petroleum.
In 1979, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi suspected the British of being the force behind the Islamic revolution that swept Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power.
The British mission in Tehran ivas closed in 1980 after British special forces stormed the Iranian embassy in London to end a hostage siege.
Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980 which. Britain and most other western states tacitly back Iraq.
A1989fatwa by Khomeini against British writer Salman Rushdie sparked a new rupture in ties that were only restored in 1999. ***
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday Iran is reviewing whether to downgrade ties with Britain, accusing London of meddling in the post-election tumult gripping the Islamic republic.
"We are examining it." he was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying, after repeated charges by Tehran that Britain and the United States are trying to destabilise the Islamic republic.
His announcment came a day after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats in a tit-for-tat move after Tehran ordered two British diplomats to leave.
Downing Street said Britain wants "constructive" ties with Iran but renewing criticism of Tehran s response to the hotly disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"We have always been clear that we seek a constructive bilateral relationship with Iran based on mutual respect." a spokesman said after Mottaki's comments.
“Iran’s decision to try to turn what are clearly internal matters for Iran into a conflict with die UK and others is deeply regrettable and without foundation."
Iran has repeatedly accused Britain of stoking the unrest that has engulfed the country since die June 12 election, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei describing it as the "most evil” of enemies.
Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohsenl-EJei said on Wednesday diat some people with British passports "had a role in the riots" Mohseni-Ejel was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying members of "known counter-revolutionary groups" who entered the country in the run-up to the vote had been arrested.
"One of the detainees collected information needed by the enemies under the guise of a reporter," he said. "Britain was one of the countries which fuelled die situation by strong propaganda and some undiplomatic measures."
The Foreign Office has criticised Tehran for trying to "blame the UK and other outsiders for what is an Iranian reaction to an Iranian issue."
Earlier this week, Iran ordered the BBC's permanent correspondent in Tehran to leave the country, accusing him of supporting the rioters.
It accused the British broad -caster as well as Voice of America of being Israeli agents whose aim was to to "weaken the national solidarity, threaten territoral integrity and disintegrate Iran."
Authorities also announced the arrest of lason Athanasiadis, a British-Greek freelance reporter for US newspaper die WashinglonTimes.