The British Council has stopped work in Iran because of "intimidation and harassment" of its staff by the Iranian government, it will be announced today. The cultural and educational centre decided to close its doors in Tehran after its entire local staff of 16 was summoned by security officials to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office at the end of December and ordered to resign."An order of that kind in present circumstances in Iran is not something you can refuse ... If not explicit, there was an implicit 'or else'," the British Council's chief executive, Martin Davidson, told the Guardian. "Once the security apparatus begins to display threatening behaviour to local members of staff who have no real protection, then that is unacceptable."
The British Council's withdrawal from Iran marks the lowest point in Iranian-UK relations since Iran seized 15 British sailors and marines two years ago. Even during that crisis the Tehran office continued to operate, providing a library, English language learning centre, and guidance for Iranians applying to study in Britain.
Today's announcement has echoes of the closure of offices in two Russian cities a year ago, under similar pressure. But the British Council has continued its work in Moscow despite the cooling of relations. There are also British Council centres in Zimbabwe and Burma. Iran is the only country in which the council has been stopped from working altogether.
"This is really the culmination of two years of pressure from the authorities on our operations. They first refused to issue visas for our UK director to go in. They then began to put pressure on our Iranian partners to slow down or cancel work with us," Davidson said. Shortly before the staff were ordered to resign, passports were confiscated from two employees as they attempted to leave the country to attend what the British Council described as a "routine meeting". Davidson said he was hoping for an opportunity to talk to the Iranian government about resuming work there. An Iranian embassy spokesman in London said yesterday that he had been unable to get a response from Tehran to questions about the British Council's closure.
The British Council was invited to open an office in 2001 and has organised joint educational events and exhibitions on the arts and climate change. There are 2,000 Iranian students in Britain and at the time of the closure of its Tehran office, the British Council was working with the state education system, organising a course for 40 teacher trainers. It was about to launch a co-operation scheme involving universities in both countries. Noting that Iran was operating cultural centres in Britain, Davidson said: "Cultural exchange should be a two-way street, not just one-way."
Distrust of Britain in Iranian official circles goes back to colonial days. State-sponsored media often accuse British intelligence of being behind acts of sabotage and attacks by rebels in its provinces, and Britain is blamed for rallying UN security council support for sanctions resolutions aimed at Iran's nuclear programme.