Iranian diplomats leave the UK

Embassy staff in London were shutting up shop this morning, loading lorries with boxes from the consulate building in Kensington, west London.

Foreign Secretary William Hague gave staff 48 hours to leave after the two British embassies in Iran were raided and demolished by over 200 people on Tuesday.

Mr Hague refrained from cutting ties with Iran completely, but he said relations would be maintained at the lowest possible level.

He welcomed what he called “a great deal of solidarity” from other EU foreign ministers, following a meeting in Brussels on Thursday where ministers agreed to new sanctions against 180 individuals and businesses associated with the Iran regime.

However Kaveh Kalantari from the Iran Association told Channel 4 News that the embassy’s closure was a blow to the Iranian community in the UK and Iran.

Around 120,000 Iranians live in the UK, with many more studying at UK universities.

“Ordinary Iranian people, whether they are in the UK or Iran, like to have a good relationship with the west,” he said.

The Iranian foreign ministry apologised for the attack. But the incident seemed to be supported by conservatives, backed by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who hold the majority in parliament, and is a sign of disagreement among various political factions.

In response to Mr Hague’s decision to expel Iranian staff in London, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Ardashir Larijani, said the attack on the embassy was Britain’s fault for decades of attempted domination.

Read more from International Editor Lindsey Hilsum: “I’m sorry about the breakdown in relations between Britain and Iran for historic as well as diplomatic reasons.”

Sanctions to affect ‘ordinary Iranians’

However Mr Kalantari said this was not the majority view. “We are worried that some English people will not be able to distinguish between the extremists and the ordinary Iranians,” he said.

The Iran Association fear the closure of embassies in London and Tehran will affect students who will be travelling between the two countries, and Iranians who intended to study in the UK.

“There are many families in Iran who want to visit their relatives in the UK,” he told Channel 4 News. “Iranians who live here also visit the embassy for administrative reasons, or for family issues.”

It seems the attack on the Tehran embassy was the “last straw” for the Foreign Office. Only weeks ago, Mr Hague imposed financial sanctions against Iran, following an International Atomic Energy Agenecy report which found evidence to suggest that Iran’s nuclear programme was intended for weapons production.