Airport adds fuel to Iran-UK row

Hardline Iranian politicians called on the government on Sunday to sever diplomatic ties with UK in a rapidly escalating row over the openin...

Hardline Iranian politicians called on the government on Sunday to sever diplomatic ties with UK in a rapidly escalating row over the opening of a new airport serving Tehran.

Britain and Canada issued warnings on Friday to travellers to avoid using the Imam Khomeini International Airport, which opened on Saturday, due to concerns the runway may be unsafe.

Iranian transport officials rejected the travel advisories and said the airport and runway had been inspected and approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Hardline politicians ignored the dispute over safety and focused their ire on an alleged request by London that the name of the airport, dedicated to the founding father of the 1979 Islamic revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, be changed.

‘‘If Britain does not apologise to Iran we will break all ties with that country and expel Britain’s ambassador,’’ said Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, a member of parliament’s presiding board. ‘‘If true, we should…not allow any British nationals to enter our country and we should cut economic ties with that country,’’ said Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan newspaper.

The British embassy in Tehran rejected the accusation. ‘‘We have never requested the name of the airport be changed,’’ said Charge D’Affaires Matthew Gould. ‘‘Our consideration is for the safety of the runway.’’