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British Council staff in Iran forced to quit by president
Ed Harris5 Feb 2009
The British Council has suspended its operations in Iran after a campaign of intimidation of staff by the authorities, its chief executive said today.
The cultural and educational body closed its doors in Tehran after its 16 local staff were forced to resign, Martin Davidson said.
There have been no British staff at the council since Tehran stopped granting visas two years ago.
Mr Davidson, who is chief executive of the London-based organisation, said a campaign of intimidation and pressure had been growing steadily. “These actions by the Iranian authorities are unacceptable,” he said. “They are designed to pressurise our staff with the clear intention of stopping our cultural and educational work in the country.”
Iran is thought to be the only country in which the council has been stopped from working altogether. Relations between Iran and Britain have been strained during the Middle East conflicts of recent years.
Mr Davidson said after the council's British staff stopped working in the country, representatives of the 16 local employees were summoned to the Iranian Office of the President in December and ordered to resign. “It was a very deliberate act that essentially made it impossible for us to operate there,” he said. Operations could only resume when employees were able to conduct their work “without fear of intimidation or harassment”, Mr Davidson added.
The British Council estimates that about 13,000 Iranians took part in its programmes in Tehran last year, which included English lessons and research partnerships.
Mr Davidson says he hopes to meet the Iranian authorities to reach an agreement to resume work.
“There are no winners here,” he said. “Our staff in Iran have lost their jobs, our Iranian partners have lost opportunities to work with the UK, and young people in Iran and the UK have lost the chance to build links that can last a lifetime.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said it was “very disappointed”. “The British Council is a non-political organisation and the Iranian harassment of British Council staff is unacceptable,” he said. Iranian officials have yet to comment.
In recent years, the British Council came under pressure as Anglo-Russian relations deteriorated. Russia forced the closure of some regional offices, saying they were not legal, although a Russian court later threw out most of the claims.
