Tehran:
Iran's Parliament voted on Sunday to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for fresh Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme and warned that other countries could also be punished.
The bill they adopted, which now has to go to the Guardians Council for approval, demands Iran's ambassador to Britain also be withdrawn as diplomatic relations are reduced to the level of charge d'affaires.
Economic and trade relations with Britain, already meagre, would be pared "to the minimum" under the text, which requires the measures be effected within two weeks.
The lawmakers also raised the possibility of punishing "other countries that behave in a manner similar to that of Britain."
"This is only the beginning," Speaker Ali Larijani warned.
The session, carried live on state radio, saw 179 deputies vote in favour of the text, four against, and 11 abstain.
Britain, whose City of London is the world's biggest financial centre alongside New York, said on November 14 it was "ceasing all contact" between its financial system and that of Iran.
That measure, announced in coordination with similar sanctions by the United States and Canada, came a week after a report by the UN atomic energy watchdog strongly suggesting Tehran was researching nuclear weapons.
Britain and Canada have embassies in Tehran. The United States does not, having closed it after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Canada's mission is already headed only by a charge d'affaires.
Meanwhile, in London, the British government today described as "regrettable" a vote by Iran's parliament to expel its ambassador to Tehran.
"The Iranian parliament's vote to expel our ambassador is regrettable," a Foreign Office spokesman said, adding: "If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners."
"This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation or international concerns about their nuclear programme and human rights record," the Foreign Office spokesman said.
Iran has dismissed the UN report as "baseless" and insists its nuclear programme is for entirely peaceful purposes.