TEHRAN: Iranian MPs yesterday urged a review of ties with Britain over alleged election meddling as students planned a protest at the British embassy and warned of a repeat of the 1979 US embassy siege.
Centuries-old mistrust of British interest in Iran welled up once more as Iranian leaders alleged that London played a key role in fomenting the unrest that has swept the Islamic republic since the June 12 presidential election.
As the accusations mounted, Britain's Foreign Office said it is withdrawing the families of embassy staff and warned its nationals against "all but essential travel to Iran." Kazem Jalali, spokesman for parliament's foreign relations commission, told state-run television: "We asked the foreign ministry to reduce relations with Britain in our session with the foreign minister and his deputies."
Members of four Iranian student unions will stage a protest demonstration outside the British embassy in Tehran today, the Fars news agency reported.
It said the protest would target the "perverted government of Britain for its intervention in Iran's internal affairs, its role in the unrest in Tehran and its support of the riots."
Asked whether Iran was considering expelling the British ambassador, foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said: "I cannot confirm this. Neither can I deny this."
Tehran has been rocked by deadly street protests since the election returned hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadijad to power in a landslide victory hotly contested by his defeated rivals.
Accusations against Britain have been flying since Friday when Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei singled it out for particular criticism, saying London was showing its "real face".
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday accused Britain of plotting for two years against the election.
The foreign ministry took aim at the BBC, along with the Voice of America, saying they were Israeli agents who aimed to "weaken the national solidarity, threaten territoral integrity and disintegrate Iran."
The BBC's permanent correspondent in Tehran, Jon Leyne, was ordered expelled by the Iranian authorities which accused him of "supporting the rioters".
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned the death toll from the protests "will raise the level of concern among Iranians and around the world."
But he rejected charges that protesters were being "manipulated or motivated" by foreign nations and denounced what he said were Iran's effort to turn the election dispute into a "battle" with the outside world.
The latest events are the most serious standoff between the countries since Iran seized 15 British navy personnel at gunpoint and paraded them in front of the TV cameras in 2007.
The roots of the mutual distrust date from the 1800s when Iran - then known as Persia - was trapped in the colonial rivalry between Russia and Britain.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Iran's top legislative council, which is looking into complaints by the defeated election candidates, did concede that in some constituencies the number of votes had surpassed eligible voters.
"Based on initial information, 50 towns had this problem," Guardian Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai was quoted by state broadcaster IRIB as saying on Sunday evening.
He said this may be due to Iranians being able to vote wherever they want, as well as other factors. He said inspectors would look into the issue.
"However, the total votes in these constituencies do not exceed 3 million and consequently will not have any impact on the election," he said.
Protesting Iranians on social networking sites called for mourning for 'Neda', a young woman shot dead on Saturday. Footage of her death has been watched by thousands on the Internet and her image has become an icon of the protests.
Even the son of the late shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, was yesterday carrying in his breastpocket a photograph of Neda.
"I have added her (Neda) to the list of my daughters. She is now forever in my pocket," Pahlavi said, fighting back tears after calling a press conference for the Western media and governments to stand strongly alongside the protest movement in Iran.
The office of Tehran's prosecutor general has said "unknown vandals" opened fire and killed people in post-election violence in the capital on Saturday, Iran's state Press TV said yesterday.
On Sunday, state television said 10 people were killed in clashes between police and "terrorists" during the previous night's unrest in Tehran.
A senior police official was also quoted as saying police had not opened fire.
Yesterday, Press TV, Iran's English-language channel, reported that some armed saboteurs had opened fire on civilians and killed people.
