In comments at a recent meeting with members of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Shercliff raised eyebrows by saying that he respected Iran’s negative perception of the British monarchy but the Britons had a similar view of the Iranians, too.
The UK diplomat, however, made no mention of his government’s long list of brutal policies vis-à-vis the Iranian nation in modern history.
He was met with criticism at the meeting, with the participants attributing the troubled trade ties between the two countries to the UK’s pursuit of a destructive Iran policy and prioritization of US sanctions against Iran.
The UK diplomat, however, blamed the Iranian side for the decrease in trade exchanges.
Reacting to the development, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani advised Shercliff to “study history” to get to know about what Britain had done to Iran throughout history.
“I advise the UK ambassador to study history in case he is uninformed about his government’s long record of oppression against the Iranian nation, stop making baseless and unfounded claims, do his utmost instead to make up for the British government’s wrong polices and unacceptable measures against the Iranian nation, and focus on efforts to advance bilateral ties based on the principles of mutual respect and interests,” he said.
Britain owes its notoriety in Iran to its role in two coup d’états in 1921 and 1953.
The colonial monarchy is also to blame for a deadly famine in Iran during World War II, when it hoarded food supplies to feed its soldiers.
The UK also provided support to the ex-Iraqi regime’s eight-year war on Iran in the 1980s.
Most recently, London has been serving as a promoter of draconian US sanctions targeting ordinary Iranians.
