The spokesman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said Tuesday the British Embassy has become "an arm" of the state-funded BBC in spreading anti-Iran propaganda, Iran Daily reported.
Kazem Jalali condemned the government in London for granting knighthood to the British ambassador, Simon Gass.
The British diplomat was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) in the 2011 New Year Honors by Queen Elizabeth.
It drew strong criticism from Iranian legislators who say the decision exposed the true nature of Britain's hostile Iran policy.
"The British ambassador did nothing to improve relations [with Iran]," IRNA quoted Jalali as saying.
"The media department of the British Embassy in Iran has indeed become an arm of the BBC," the lawmaker said.
Officials in Tehran slammed Gass for his "irresponsible" remarks regarding human rights in Iran, describing it as unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of a state.
In an article posted on his embassy website on December 9, the envoy criticized Iran for arresting and prosecuting several people it says were "counterrevolutionaries and criminals" and who undermined national security.
In his remarks posted for the International Human Rights Day, Gass claimed that "lawyers, journalists and NGO workers were nowhere under greater threat than in Iran".
"Since last year human rights defenders have been harassed and imprisoned," he said in what he called a blog to mark the rights day, citing the case of prominent human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh who was arrested on September 4.
Sotoudeh, renowned for her defense of several people accused of inciting violence during the post-election unrests in June 2009, faces lethal charges, including moves against national security.
Iran has widely blamed the West -- particularly the US, Britain and France -- for aiding and abetting the unrests through their intelligence services and media.
One of the major western media accused by Iran of playing a prominent role in fuelling the post-vote unrests is the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
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