France Now 8th Country Involved in Break in Relations With Iran

France on Friday became the eighth country involved in a break of diplomatic relations with Iran since the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s Muslim fundamentalist regime took power in February, 1979.

Iran broke relations with Egypt in May, 1979, for Egypt’s having made peace with Israel, and the United States cut off relations with Tehran in April, 1980, over the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Iran broke relations with Chile in August, 1980, accusing that country of human rights abuses, and severed ties with neighbor Iraq in September, 1980, at the start of the Iran-Iraq War.

Lebanon severed relations with Iran in November, 1983, over the discovery of Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon, but relations were restored the following July at the urging of Shia Muslim leader Nabih Berri.

Tunisia broke ties with Iran last March 26, charging that the Iranian Embassy in Tunis was aiding Muslim fundamentalist militants with anti-government activities.

On June 28, Mauritania, which favors Iraq, severed ties with Iran, protesting Tehran’s “obstinate refusal” to negotiate a settlement to the Persian Gulf War.

Britain, stopping short of a full break, froze relations with Iran on June 30 in a dispute similar to that between Paris and Tehran.

London protested the arrest of a British diplomat in Tehran who had been held in retaliation for the questioning by British police of an Iranian consular official in Manchester on shoplifting charges. London and Tehran now keep one diplomat in each other’s country.