'UK Queen begged Tehran for ties'
PRESS TV - A senior Iranian lawmaker has revealed that Britain's Queen Elizabeth II “begged” Tehran to maintain ties with London after Iran's Majlis voted to downgrade ties with the country.
“After Iran's Majlis approved a bill to downgrade ties with the UK, the office of [Britain's] Queen [Elizabeth II] contacted some of the Iranian officials and begged for the continuation of relations with Britain,” Head of Iran Majlis (parliament) Human Rights Sub-committee, Zohreh Elahian was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying on Thursday.
On November 27, Iran's Majlis approved a bill, which was also endorsed a day later by the Guardian Council, to downgrade relations with Britain to the level of charge d'affaires and limit all economic and cultural relations with London to the minimum level.
The Iranian lawmakers acted on the bill in response to the UK's recent decision to impose unilateral sanctions on the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran over allegations that Tehran's nuclear program may have a covert military component aspect.
Two days after the Majlis ratification of the bill, hundreds of Iranian students, harboring pent-up anger at the UK policies against Iran, staged a major protest rally outside the British Embassy in Tehran, pulled down the UK flag, and demanded the expulsion of the British envoy.
Protesters also staged another rally outside a second compound, the Qolhak Garden.
The initiative by the Iranian students was “very appropriate,” Elahian said, adding the students should have even “continued their congregation before the British Embassy for three or four days.”
Referring to the student protests at the anti-Iran policies of London Elahian noted, “These measures should persist.”
The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Mohammad-Ali Jafari said on July 4 that the option of closing the Strait of Hormuz remains on the table and that there is a plan to close the strategic strait in the case of a military strike against Iran.
The Iranian commander also noted Iran is after plans to fully exploit its defensive potential in the high seas.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Sea of Oman.
Iran has repeatedly warned it would not hesitate to take all crucial measures, one of which is to close the strategic oil passage, in the event of a military attack on the country.