RNA – In an exclusive interview with Rasa News Agency, Ebrahim Aghamohammadi, the Member of Parliament, criticized the Iranian government’s recent decision to reopen the British embassy in Iran, saying: “The United Kingdom has never had a positive role in Iran and there is not a single case in Iran’s history where the British acted in the interests of the Iranian people.”
The remarks came after the British embassy reopened in Iran after being closed for four years. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was part of the British delegation which attended the reopening of the embassy. This was the first visit by a British foreign secretary to Iran since 2003.
Aghamohammadi stressed that the UK has repeatedly violated the Iranian people’s rights, has plundered the country’s oil and financial resources and played a “predatory” role in Iran. He added: “If we review the history of the UK in this country, we will realize that all the conflicts that Iran has been involved in have been directed by the UK, and these have been to the detriment of the nation.”
The member of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament explained that during the Qajar era, the UK was responsible for carving away many historically Iranian territories, including Herat. They also played a “crucial” role during the sedition which occurred after the disputed 2009 elections where they supported opponents of Iran’s Islamic government.
Aghamohammadi stated that the Iranian parliament has recently passed a resolution to keep the level of relations with the UK at the chargé d’affaires level, the lowest level, due to London’s hostile policies against Tehran, specially over the past 20 years.
“There is no loss due to this resolution and we will be relentless against the UK’s evil. If the British embassy doesn’t want to be held accountable or ‘be an open book’ and continue its activities, the parliament will take a decision,” he said.
He said that the people must not think that with the arrival of the British in Iran that an angel has entered the country, but rather another ‘Great Satan’ has come. “With the opening of the British embassy, everyone knows that a evil power has entered the country. In this regard, we should be cautious in discussing relations with the UK,” he said.
The Member of Parliament for Khorramshahr said that the UK should apologize to the Iranian nation for its long history of treachery. “For much of its history, the UK has destroyed other countries and it unlikely that it will stop now,” he added.
Aghamohammadi said that happiness over the return of the UK to Iran is meaningless and stressed that promoting relations with the UK without the approval of parliament is against the law, adding that if we want the relationship between Iran and UK to return to its former state, the government should propose a bill.
“Those who support the return of the UK to Iran, should explain their position in parliament and those opponents should also explain theirs and the parliament should vote on it,” he said.
He added if the government does not comply with the parliament’s legislation and does not insist on implementing this legislation, President Hassan Rouhani should answer the MP’s concerns in an open session of parliament.
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