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Foreign Ministry: British ambassador leaves his post not due to Tehran's decision

Politics Materials 15 February 2011 09:01 (UTC +04:00)
British ambassador to Iran Simon Gassleaves his post not because of a ban on entry imposed by Tehran, but in connection with his transfer to another post, British Foreign Office’s official representative said.
Foreign Ministry: British ambassador leaves his post not due to Tehran's decision

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.14 / Trend T. Konyayeva /

British ambassador to Iran Simon Gass leaves his post not because of a ban on entry imposed by Tehran, but in connection with his transfer to another post, British Foreign Office's official representative said.

"Simon Gassleaves in order to take a more responsible post in NATO," Foreign Office's official representative told Trend over phone from London. "Simon and his team during their stay in Tehran continue to do excellent job in difficult circumstances," he added.

On Sunday, Feb.13 Iranian MP, Hussein Ibrahimi stated that the British ambassador to Iran Simon Gass's entry to the country is banned.

Iranian Parliamentary Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy approved a bill that requires a complete rupture of relations, including political, cultural and economic ones with the UK on Dec. 19.

The Commission's decision came after British Ambassador Simon Gass recently assessed the situation with human rights in Iran on the British Embassy website. "The lawyers, journalists, NGO members experience such pressure nowhere in the world as in Iran," the ambassador said. He also drew attention to numerous cases of arrests of human rights defenders in Iran.

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.

According to the British Foreign Office's representative, Gass will leave his post after a couple of months.

"We intend to find a worthy substitute for him as soon as possible," he said.

In April this year, Gass will end his activity as the ambassador to Tehran in order to begin new duty - head of the NATO civil mission in Afghanistan.

"The British government fully supports the important work undertaken by the British Embassy in Tehran," UKForeign OfficeMinister for the Middle East Alistair Burtsaid in an official statement. "Only through open dialogue we can resolve the problems facing us, in particular, international community seeks ways to address the issue regarding the human rights violations in Iran," he said.

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