Iranian envoy leaves UK, mission shot at in Tehran

Iran’s ambassador in London has returned home amid tensions over Britain’s arrest of a former Iranian diplomat, made worse on Wednesday by a drive-by shooting at the British Embassy in Tehran.

Officials said ties had not been downgraded, though Tehran’s envoy had gone back to Iran. Relations have been strained by the case of Hadi Soleimanpour, a former Iranian ambassador arrested at Argentina’s request for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires. Adding to the charged atmosphere, gunshots fired from a motorbike hit the British Embassy in Tehran, prompting the mission to shut temporarily.