Iran cleric threatens trial for British embassy staff:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090703/ts_afp/iran
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Tehran accused the embassy employees of instigating riots in the unrest that followed the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which his rivals said was rife with fraud and irregularities.
Jannati, who is close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is a strong Ahmadinejad supporter, said "enemies" had been plotting a "velvet revolution" in the Islamic republic.
He said London had predicted "street riots" around the June 12 election and had warned Britons to stay away from public places.
Khamenei has described Britain, which has long had turbulent relations with Iran and a lengthy history of mistrust, as the "most evil" of its enemies.-
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- Highr0ller
- 4 months ago
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Iranian officials have been particularly angered by this year's launch of the BBC's Persian satellite channel, which they accuse of fanning the flames in the election dispute.
The roots of mutual distrust date back to the 1800s when Iran, then Persia, was trapped in the colonial rivalry between Russia and Britain.
In 1953, nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh was overthrown in a CIA-organised coup with support from British operatives after he nationalised the Anglo-Iranian oil company, the forerunner to British Petroleum.
Diplomatic ties were severed when Britain's mission in Tehran was closed in 1980 after British special forces stormed the Iranian embassy in London to end a hostage siege.
A 1989 fatwa by Iran?s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against British writer Salman Rushdie sparked a new rupture in ties that were only restored in 1999.
In 2007, Iran seized 15 British navy personnel on patrol in waters between Iraq and Iran and held them for 12 days.-
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- Highr0ller
- 4 months ago
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