Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 25 / Trend T. Konyayeva /
Iran must not maintain economic ties with countries with which it has strained political relations, Kazem Jalali, the representative of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at the Iranian parliament, said.
"The relations with other countries must be developed and maintained in all spheres, including political, economic and cultural fields. That is why, we intend to break the economic relations with the countries with no political mutual understanding and to which we do not have trust," Jalali told Trend over phone from Tehran.
The National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at the Iranian parliament approved a bill that requires a complete break of ties, including political, cultural and economic relations with Great Britain on Dec. 19.
The Commission's decision came after British Ambassador Simon Gass recently assessed the situation of human rights in Iran on the British Embassy website, saying that "the lawyers, journalists, NGO members experience such pressure nowhere in the world as in Iran." He also drew attention to numerous cases of arrests of human rights defenders in Iran.
Early last week, Simon Gass was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, where the inadmissibility of interfering in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran was pointed out to him.
The reason for this decision of the Commission's recent appearance on the site of the British Embassy estimates the British Ambassador Simon Hess's human rights situation in Iran. "Nowhere in the world of lawyers, journalists, NGO members do not feel such pressure, as in Iran," - said the ambassador. He also drew attention to numerous cases of arrests of human rights defenders in Iran.
After the publication of Simon Gass was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, where he was shown on the inadmissibility of interference in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic.
A group of Iranian politicians of the conservative camp demanded the immediate expulsion of the diplomat from the country, who allowed "insulting and demeaning attacks" against the Islamic Republic of Iran, threatening the relations between the two countries.
Jalali said that the recent actions of British Ambassador look very unattractive.
"But despite this, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has not taken any tough actions in return. So, the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee sharply criticized the Foreign Ministry," he said.
The Iranian parliament constantly criticizes the government for maintaining economic ties with countries with which Iran has strained political relations.
"We try to establish ties with other countries instead of those with whom we fail to establish them. We take serious steps in that direction. Economic ties between Iran and some countries are in the interests of these countries," he said.
According to the Iranian authorities, the trade turnover between Iran and the countries of the UN Security Council having veto power (U.S., Great Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) increased by 12 percent from March to October 2010 compared to the same period of last year, despite the sanctions imposed on the country.
A decline in import of products by 37 percent was fixed in the relations with Great Britain during this period. At the same time, the export to Great Britain increased by 53.42 percent ($25.5 million).
The bill on breaking ties between Iran and Great Britain should be discussed in the parliament.
"If this bill is discussed in the Parliament, it will be fulfilled," he said.
The bill on breaking ties between Great Britain and Iran will be submitted to the Parliament for discussion soon, Mohammad-Taqi Rahbar, a member of the parliament, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying.
Jalali thinks that hostility has increased in Iran towards Great Britain because of the position and actions of Great Britain towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"Throughout the history of relations between the two countries, Great Britain has always pursued a colonial policy towards Iran, so the Iranian people do not have good memories of this country," he said.
The relations between Iran and Great Britain have been strained for a long time due to disagreements over Iran's nuclear program. Iran's accusations of involvement the western intelligence agencies, including the British foreign intelligence MI-6, in organizing the terrorist acts in Tehran on November 29 further complicated them. The nuclear physicist Majeed Shahriar died and the specialist in laser physics Fereydoon Abbasi was injured in these attacks.
Moreover, Iran has accused Great Britain of openly supporting the Iranian opposition and provocation, after massive street riots broke out in the country.
T. Jafarov contributed to the article.