The move was taken following a suspicious truck blast near the British embassy last Monday night and a number of bomb threats directed at the British diplomatic compound in Tehran, British Ambassador to Iran Richard Dalton was quoted as saying.

On the night of March 31, a pickup truck loaded with gasoline and other fuels smashed into the wall near the main gate of the British embassy and caught fire, but no one inside the embassy compound was hurt.

Tehran police late said it was obviously a traffic incident caused by over-speeding and slippery road, rather than an intended attack aimed at the embassy.

The British embassy in Tehran has been on alert since the US-led war in Iraq broke out on March 20. On March 28, hundreds of Iranians participating in an anti-war rally threw stones at the embassy and smashed some windows of its main building.

The British embassy has also received some bomb threats in the past weeks.

"In light of the increased threat to the embassy, we have authorized the departure of non-essential staff or dependants. But the embassy will remain open," Dalton said.

Despite the ongoing war in neighboring Iraq, Iran is generally seen as a low security risk by Western governments because there have been no recent attacks on Westerners in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2003)