Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 25 / Trend T. Konyayeva / T. Jafarov contributed to the article.
Iran must not maintain economic ties with countries with which it has strained political relations, said Kazem Jalali, the representative of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at the Iranian parliament.
"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 in 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.
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 the recent actions of British Ambassador look very unattractive, however adding that "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."
The Iranian parliament has been constantly criticizing 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," Jalali further said.
According to the Iranian authorities, the trade turnover between Iran and the five countries of the UN Security Council having veto power 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 Jalali said, further saying that "if this bill is discussed in the Parliament, it will be fulfilled."
The bill on breaking ties between Great Britain and Iran would be submitted to the Parliament for discussion soon, Mohammad Taqi Rahbar, a member of the parliament, was quoted by Fars news agency as saying.
According to Jalali, the 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. The matter has been further complicated amid Iran's accusations that western intelligence agencies, including the British foreign intelligence MI-6, had been involved in organizing the terrorist attacks in Tehran on November 29, which left nuclear physicist Majeed Shahriar dead and the specialist in laser physics Fereydoon Abbasi was injured.
Iran has also accused Great Britain of openly supporting the Iranian opposition and provocation, after massive street riots broke out in the country.