Edmund Blair, Reuters

TEHRAN, 4 September 2003 — Iran’s ambassador in London has returned home amid simmering tensions over Britain’s arrest of a former Iranian diplomat, made worse yesterday by a drive-by shooting at the British Embassy building in Tehran.

British and Iranian officials said diplomatic ties had not been downgraded, though the Tehran government’s envoy had gone back to Iran. Relations have been strained by the case of Hadi Soleimanpour, a former Iranian ambassador arrested in Britain at Argentina’s request in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

Iran says the arrest is politically motivated and has threatened “strong action”. Britain denies the charge and says its courts are independent of politics. Adding to the charged atmosphere, gunshots fired from a passing motorbike hit the British Embassy in Tehran, causing no injuries but prompting the mission to shut temporarily.

Analysts say Iran may be wary of downgrading ties with Britain in case that prompted a response from other European Union members as Iran faces mounting international pressure for tougher inspections of its nuclear program.

European Union diplomats in Tehran said they were trying to defuse tensions in their contacts with Iranian officials.

Iran said it was investigating the embassy shooting, which it called an “irresponsible act”. “This was a serious incident. Six shots were fired at the embassy building. Several of them entered offices on the second floor,” Britain’s ambassador in Tehran, Richard Dalton, told Reuters Television.

A witness said at least one bullet entered the building, which is close to a busy Tehran street.

An official earlier said toughened glass had stopped the bullets.

“We just heard five shots. People there said they came from two people on a motorbike — one rider and one with a pistol,” a shopkeeper near the scene said. Others agreed with his account.

In London, a Foreign Office spokesman said Iran’s ambassador to Britain, Morteza Sarmadi, had returned to Tehran but that ties had not been downgraded. An Iranian official was quoted as saying he had returned home for consultations.

Speaking after a weekly Cabinet meeting, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said: “No decision was taken for downgrading the relations between the two countries and I don’t see it in that framework.”

Relations have been strained between the two countries following the Aug. 21 arrest of Soleimanpour, who was Iran’s ambassador to Argentina at the time of the 1994 bombing that killed 85. The former envoy has protested his innocence.