British Council response to Iranian authorities statement 07.02.09
07 / 02 / 2009
“The Iranian authorities’ claim that the British Council suspended its work in Iran for economic reasons is completely false”, said British Council Chief Executive, Martin Davidson. “We were working to improve cultural and educational ties between our two countries so the idea that we willingly stopped our own work is simply ridiculous”.
“This claim appears to be an attempt to divert attention away from the fact that the authorities pressurised our staff to resign by 31 January with the clear intention of stopping our work in Iran.”
Mr Davidson said: `’We find it difficult to understand why they should decide to cut the opportunities for young Iranians to engage with the UK through cultural projects and educational links, especially at a time when they can be of most value.’
The British Council has a legal basis to work in Iran as the Office of the 1st Secretary of Education in the British Embassy and complies with international law under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963). What is more, we were invited back into the country eight years ago by the Iranian authorities after a 22-year absence. There was clear demand for our work in Iran, more than 85,000 visited our website and over 13,000 took part in our activities last year.
Mr Davidson added: `We do not want to make this a political matter. Educational and cultural cooperation is in the interests of both of our countries so we would welcome discussions with the relevant authorities on resuming our work in Iran as soon as possible.’
The British Council is a non-political cultural relations organisation that works in more than 100 countries worldwide to connect millions of people with the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas in education, art, science, sport and English language learning.
ENDS
View the British Council statement issued on 05.02.09
For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org or call the press office on 0207 389 4987
Notes to Editors
The British Council is the
We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the
We work in the arts, education, science, sport and governance and last year we reached over 128 million people.
We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government.
Our total turnover in 2007/8 was £565 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £197 million.
For every pound of grant we receive, we generate an additional £1.92. For more information, please visit www.britishcouncil.org
