MANAMA, Bahrain: Iran severed diplomatic relations with Britain Tuesday, citing London’s “hostile stance” toward Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death sentence on British author Salman Rushdie.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the Iranian parliament, or Majlis, “announced the complete severance of diplomatic ties with Britain” at 11:30 am (3 a.m. EST), exactly one week after the body issued an ultimatum demanding that London clarify its stand on Rushdie’s novel, “The Satanic Verses.”
Iranian First Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Mohammad Besharati was quoted in the Jomhuri Islami newspaper earlier Tuesday as saying Britain had tried to contact Iran last week to “discuss the issue,” IRNA reported.
But we rejected the offers and made it clear that the Majlis plan did not need any discussion,” Besharati was quoted as saying.
Besharati also warned of an international “front” against Iran and Islam, and called on Moslems “to be alert to neutralize these sinisters plots,” IRNA said.
Tran gave Britain seven days from February 28 to reconsider its “hostile stance” toward Khomeini’s death warrant against the Indian bom British author or face a break in diplomatic relations.
In a further indication of Iran’s isolation an oil industry newsletter said Monday that Tehran’s trading partners, France and Japan, have asked their oil companies to restrict purchases of Iranian crude oil.
Both the Japanese and French governments have approached their oil companies in an effort to persuade them to curb lifting’s of Iranian oil in the current unavoidable political climate,” said the Cyprus based Middle East Economic Survey.
The reported cutbacks could have a profound effect on Iran’s plans to rebuild its oil industry. a potential source of revenue as Iran tries to recover from its eight year war with Iraq. To counter the rupture in ties with the West, Iran has turned to the Soviet Union and China for improved relations.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 10, 1989
