BBC News Online: World: Middle East

Iran 'blocks UK ambassador'

Relations had been improving between the countries

Iranian newspaper Jomhuri Islami said that the decision to appoint David Reddaway had angered Iran, who claimed he was not acceptable for the role as he was both Jewish and linked to Britain's MI6 secret service.

Mr Reddaway was to replace Nicholas Browne, who left the post in December.

Fluent in Farsi, the main Iranian language, 48 year-old Mr Reddaway previously served in Madrid, New Delhi and Buenos Aires.

The British Foreign Office did not comment on the newspaper's report, but the newspaper said that Britain had threatened to downgrade the Tehran post in retaliation.

Improving relations

The row threatens to mar what had been improving relations between the two countries since the fatwa issued by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against British author Salman Rushdie was lifted in 1998.

Four months ago Jack Straw became the first British foreign secretary to visit the country since the Islamic revolution in 1979, and praised what he described as a "new era" in relations between the two countries.

He was there to shore up support for the war against terror initiated following the 11 September attacks on America, which Iran had been quick to condemn.

An estimated five million Afghan refugees are living in camps in Pakistan and Iran.