Britain Reduces Diplomatic Staff in Iran to 1 Caretaker : Orders All but 1 Iranian Envoy Out of London

Britain today cut its diplomatic ties with Tehran to a one-man caretaker basis and ordered all but one of Iran’s diplomats in London to leave by the end of June.

A Foreign Office statement cited “unacceptable Iranian behavior” but said, “This decision does not constitute a breach of diplomatic relations.”

Four British diplomats returned home today, leaving two in Iran. Britain’s top-ranking diplomat in Tehran, Christopher MacRae, will return to London by the end of this month, the Foreign Office said.

Visa Officer Left

The one British diplomat to remain in Tehran, Paul Ramsay, a 31-year-old visa officer, will have the sole task of looking after British Embassy buildings, while the Swedish Embassy will handle diplomatic relations for Britain, a Foreign Office spokesman said.

Tehran radio said today that Iran was calling home all but one of its 16 diplomats in London and accused Britain of failing to observe the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity.

The Foreign Office advised Britons to postpone trips to Iran and said British residents there should consider carefully whether they should remain in a “confused situation” in which a British diplomat was allegedly beaten last month.

Missing Britons

The spokesman said a major consideration was concern over Britons missing in the Middle East and under arrest without charges in Iran.

The missing include Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite, who disappeared Jan. 20 in Beirut as he tried to gain freedom for American hostages in Lebanon. Two other Britons are missing in Lebanon, and two are under arrest in Iran.

Britain still holds Iran responsible for British subjects under Iranian control, the spokesman said.

The statement said Britain is ready to improve relations but “only on the basis of reciprocity and if the British diplomatic presence in Tehran is allowed to do its job without hindrance and with its safety assured.

‘Unacceptable Behavior’

“Despite unacceptable Iranian behavior throughout the current dispute, Britain sought on June 10 to make a fresh start in relations with Iran by putting them on a clear, reciprocal basis,” the statement said.

Instead, the Iranians “further escalated the dispute” by expelling four British diplomats and making it impossible for British diplomats to carry out their functions in Tehran, it said.

The British move will make it difficult for Iranians to get visas to come to Britain. Last year, Britain issued 15,000 visas to Iranian businessmen and other visitors.

Shoplifting Charges

The dispute began with last month’s arrest on shoplifting charges of Ali Qassemi, Iran’s vice consul in the northern English city of Manchester.

A British diplomat, Edward Chaplin, subsequently was abducted and beaten in Tehran on May 28, and Britain said Iran was trumping up charges against him in retaliation for Qassemi’s arrest.

Qassemi was subsequently among seven Iranian diplomats ordered to leave Britain in tit-for-tat expulsions. Iran has expelled a total of nine British diplomats.

Asked why Britain thought the dispute had escalated from the relatively minor shoplifting arrest, the Foreign Office spokesman refused to comment on Iranian domestic politics.

“This dispute is not of our making,” he said. “It was not our wish that it should have escalated.”