ANALYSIS - Iranian moves against Britain reflect old suspicions

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's expulsion of two British diplomats suggest Tehran is trying to use deep-rooted suspicions of the British to deflect blame for bloody protests over a disputed presidential election.

The move, which Britain responded to by ordering two Iranian diplomats to leave London, marked a further downwards lurch in relations, already strained over Britain's energetic support for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The expulsions also underscore Iran's anger over a new Persian-language BBC satellite television channel, funded by the British government, which is broadcasting news of the post-election protests into Iran.

"I think it's a lot to do with trying to create national unity by creating a common external enemy which is traditionally the British," Claire Spencer, head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Chatham House thinktank, told Reuters.

Iran has accused Western powers of interfering in its affairs after official results of the June 12 election gave a landslide victory to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sparking protests in which at least 17 people have been killed.

Iranian suspicions of London date back to its imperial rule in the Middle East and its support for a U.S.-engineered coup that toppled popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who had nationalised the Anglo-Iranian oil company, a forerunner of BP.

British influence in the region has long since been eclipsed by Washington, and a British politician said Iran was acting against Britain because it wanted to find a foreign scapegoat without directly confronting the United States.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said America was prepared to extend a hand of peace to Iran if it "unclenched its fist", and has been careful to avoid appearing to meddle in its affairs. He toughened his criticism of Iran on Tuesday, calling scenes of death in Tehran "heartbreaking".