Iran today ruled out a re-run of the presidential election, setting the state security apparatus on a collision course with democracy protesters.

The regime stepped back from direct confrontation with Britain, by cancelling at the last minute today's government-orchestrated demonstration outside the British Embassy in Tehran by students loyal to the Government

The Guardian Council, the country's top legislative body, said that there was no sign of serious electoral fraud in the June 12 vote — despite conceding yesterday that in 50 Iranian cities more than 100 per cent of the electorate was officially recorded as turning out to vote.

“Fortunately we have witnessed no major irregularites during the country’s recent presidential election and therefore there is no reason to annul the election,” said Abbasali Kadkhodai, a council spokesman, in remarks reported on Iran state television this morning.

Most of the 646 complaints lodged by losing candidates were about alleged irregularities before the election and not during and after the vote, Mr Kadkhodai said.

Mr Kadkhodai had said this week that the reason the number of votes surpassed eligible voters in some constituencies may have been because Iranians could vote wherever they wanted — and that, in any case, it would not have had any serious impact on the result.

Today's statement will do nothing to appease the indignation of protesters who have taken to the streets day after day to demonstrate against the election results that had Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's hardline President, winning a second term of office by a wide margin.

The authorities have responded by sending armed riot police and Basij volunteer militiamen to try to stifle the protests. They have also sought to blame public unrest on Western governments, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, singling out Britain — the so-called "Little Satan" — as most guilty of interfering in Iran's internal affairs.

Iranian MPs have urged the Foreign Ministry to curtail ties with Britain, and there was speculation that the British Ambassador would soon be expelled.

Students loyal to the regime had planned to hold a demonstration outside the British Embassy in Tehran today to protest at interference by the “peverted” British Government, but this morning student unions called it off after it was banned at the last minute by the authorities.

“The Interior Ministry condemns this [British] interference, but informs our dear compatriots that no permit has been issued for a rally and a march on Tuesday,” the ministry said on its website.

“Iranian students have cancelled today’s gathering and postponed it to another day after a permit was not issued,” said Ehsan Yavari, an Islamist student leader, according to a report by the Fars news agency.

Fearing a repeat of the 1979 siege of the US Embassy in Tehran, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office yesterday ordered the evacuation of the families of the 22 British diplomats and advised British citizens against any non-essential travel to Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei launched the rhetorical war against Britain last Friday by labelling it the “most treacherous” of various Western powers that were using the presidential election to destablise the Islamic Republic. On Sunday Iran expelled the BBC correspondent Jon Leyne and said that agents of the British secret services had been infiltrating Iran “in droves”.

Esmail Tahmouressi, a student leader, had warned that today's planned demonstration could be another “November 4” — a reference to the storming of the US Embassy in the heady days after the revolution. He said that the embassy should be closed because “there cannot be a compromise with the old fox, Britain”.

The growing tensions will not help British government efforts to secure the release of the three remaining hostages held by an Iranian-backed Shia group in Iraq.

The embassy, the ambassador’s residence and its extensive grounds are ringed by 10ft-high walls. It employs about 100 Iranian citizens and has Iranian guards. It is the target of regular protests. Demonstrators have managed to get inside before — most recently in late December when they took to the streets over the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

The diplomats live mostly in another compound in northern Tehran, and their families are expected to fly out soon. Speculation that they could soon be joined by Simon Gass, the ambassador, was fuelled by Hassan Ghashghavi, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, when he said: “I cannot confirm this. Neither can I deny this.”

The Iranian parliament’s foreign relations commission said that it had asked the Foreign Minister to curtail Iran’s relations with Britain.

A report that Iran had called back its ambassador to London for consultations was hastily denied this morning by the Iran Foreign MInistry.

Times Recommends

• 'New York has lost its edge'
• Copenhagen will fail – and quite right too
• More than 17,000 new underwater species found