Tehran Tells London It Will Defend Ex-Diplomat "In Every Way"
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi made the threats in a telephone conversation with his British counterpart, Jack Straw.
"The arrest will have a very bad impact on bilateral relations. Iran is very sensitive to the fate of its citizens and will defend them in every way," Kharrazi told Straw on Sunday night.
"(Hadi) Soleimanpour is innocent. The procedure is politically motivated with no legal and judicial foundations, so he should be released as soon as possible," the minister added.
Soleimanpour, 47, was arrested Thursday in Durham in northeast England where he had been attending university, on suspicion of involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre in Buenos Aries that killed 85 and injured 300 when he was ambassador to Argentina.
He is set to remain in custody until a London court rules on an Argentine extradition request.
Iran has demanded a British apology for the arrest and slapped economic sanctions on Buenos Aires.
Meanwhile, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alladin Buroujerdi, said Monday that the suspension of economic ties between Iran and Britain should be placed high on the agenda.
“We might even consider decreasing our ties with Britain if necessary and prevent foes from damaging the reputation and dignity of the Islamic Republic,” he told the Mehr News Agency.
Buroujerdi said that “Iran’s acquiring nuclear expertise” and “the emergence of some problems concerning the killing of the British and U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan” are among reasons for the arrest of the former Iranian ambassador to Argentina by the British government.
In view of the experience of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, the U.S. intends to destroy Iran from within, and its only hope is the presence of a few reformists in the country.
Speaking in a weekly meeting entitled “The Islamic Association of Markets and Professions” he said that the U.S. is retaining its aggressive policy towards Iran and unfortunately, some agents in Iran approve of its practices.
“The reformists consist of a wide range of people, including the President and the Head of Majlis; however, they both severely oppose and react to the U.S and British moves,” he said.
Buroujerdi, who is also a Majlis deputy representing Buroujerd, recalling Imam Khomeini’s statement, “You represent Islam and the martyrs’ blood,” stated that the late Imam always looked down on the superpowers of time and had even asked the Soviet Union (which was the greatest power of the time) in a letter not to accompany the U.S. and avoid getting caught in the U.S. trap and as we saw, the Soviet Union collapsed a few years later.
Buroujerdi said that the main U.S. objective in Iraq is to usurp its oil resources, and issues such as campaign against terrorism and defending human rights are but a means to satisfy U.S. strategies and goals.
“When a system’s committed to principles, it combats aggression and tyranny and our system battles against tyranny and aggression against itself and others,” he said.