Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran is considering whether to downgrade ties with Britain, the ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday, amid mounting tensions over the disputed presidential election.
"We are examining it," he said, the agency reported. His comments came after Britain and Iran expelled diplomats in a tit-for-tat move, with Tehran accusing London of meddling in the post-election tumult.
Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei that some people with British passports "had a role in the riots" which followed the June 12 election that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.
He told the Fars news agency that members of "known counter-revolutionary groups" who entered the country in the run-up to the vote had been arrested in recent riots.
"One of the detainees collected information needed by the enemies under the guise of a reporter," he said. "Britain was one of the countries which fuelled the situation by strong propaganda and some undiplomatic measures."