British Oust 5 Iranians, Close Office : Action Brings to Head Dispute Over Tehran Abduction of Briton

Britain closed an Iranian consulate today and ordered five diplomats to leave, bringing to a head a sharp dispute with Tehran over the abduction and beating of a British diplomat in the Iranian capital.

Britain has accused Iran of trumping up charges against Edward Chaplin, 36, its No. 2 diplomat in Iran, who was abducted and held for 24 hours last Thursday. It repeatedly expressed impatience at Iran’s failure to explain why it held Chaplin. British authorities said the diplomat was beaten by his abductors.

The top Iranian diplomat in London, Charge d’Affaires Mohammed Akhoudzadeh Basti, was summoned to the Foreign Office today and told that the Iranian Consulate in the northern city of Manchester will be closed and that its five staff members have a week to leave Britain.

The move does not affect the standing of the Iranian Embassy in London.

Vice Consul Included

The five ordered to leave include Ali Qassemi, a vice consul who was to have appeared in court in Manchester next Thursday on charges of shoplifting, reckless driving and assaulting a police officer who was trying to arrest him. Instead of appearing in court, Qassemi will have to leave Britain.

Sir Patrick Wright, permanent undersecretary in the Foreign Office, told Basti that the government is gravely concerned about the treatment of Chaplin in Tehran, the Foreign Office said.

Wright told Basti that the Iranians are trying to link legal action against Chaplin with the case against Qassemi in Manchester.

“This is as unacceptable as it is futile,” he said.

British Beating Charged

Afterward, Basti told reporters that he had been unable to get an explanation from British authorities of the beating the Iranians claim Qassemi suffered at the hands of British police.

“We cannot tolerate mistreatment of diplomats in this country or any part of the world,” he said.

Last Thursday, Chaplin was driving with his wife and two small children in Tehran when a car stopped abruptly and caused a collision, and six armed men beat him and took him away, the British said. He was released a day later.

Qassemi had been arrested for alleged shoplifting May 9 and was rearrested last Thursday when he failed to appear at a court hearing in Manchester.