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British diplomacy with Iran was dictated by Rushdie affair
London, June 13: Britain adopted the policy of `critical engagement` with Iran largely as a way of overcoming the impasse over the death sentence or `fatwa` imposed by Ayatollah Khomeini on the Indian-born writer Salman Rushdie.
London, June 13: Britain adopted the policy of "critical engagement" with Iran largely as a way of overcoming the impasse over the death sentence or 'fatwa' imposed by Ayatollah Khomeini on the Indian-born writer Salman Rushdie.
Iran had refused to withdraw the 1989 'fatwa' issued by Khomeini over Rushdie's novel 'The Satanic Verses', and Britain therefore, refused to contemplate the restoration of full diplomatic relations, broken after the 1979 Iranian revolution.
But Britain used its presidency of the European Union at the Edinburgh Summit of 1992 to introduce a policy of dialogue with the Iranians, 'The Times' daily reported today.
It hoped to open lines of communication to the West, restore at least some trade links and make it easier for the Europeans to express directly to Iran their concerns about its nuclear programme, support for terrorism, opposition to the Middle East peace process and the human rights situation in Iran, it said.
The approach was a clear divergence from American policy, which was governed by congressional attempts to maintain trade sanctions against Iran, and which led in 1996 to the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act that mandated US sanctions against any Western company investing more than 40 million dollars in energy concerns in Libya or Iran.
Britain defended this policy of "critical engagement" as more effective way of advancing Western interests in Tehran.
Bureau Report
But Britain used its presidency of the European Union at the Edinburgh Summit of 1992 to introduce a policy of dialogue with the Iranians, 'The Times' daily reported today.
It hoped to open lines of communication to the West, restore at least some trade links and make it easier for the Europeans to express directly to Iran their concerns about its nuclear programme, support for terrorism, opposition to the Middle East peace process and the human rights situation in Iran, it said.
The approach was a clear divergence from American policy, which was governed by congressional attempts to maintain trade sanctions against Iran, and which led in 1996 to the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act that mandated US sanctions against any Western company investing more than 40 million dollars in energy concerns in Libya or Iran.
Britain defended this policy of "critical engagement" as more effective way of advancing Western interests in Tehran.
Bureau Report