Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will reopen Britain’s Embassy in Iran on Sunday, almost four years after it was stormed and shut.

In the first visit to Tehran by a foreign secretary since 2003, Hammond will hold talks with President Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, and other officials.

The British Embassy will be headed by a charge d’affaires, Ajay Sharma, but Hammond said an agreement for exchange of ambassadors will be reached within months, as Iran’s embassy in London also reopens.

The Foreign Secretary said:
Reopening our embassies is a key step to improved bilateral relations. In the first instance, we will want to ensure that the nuclear agreement is a success, including by encouraging trade and investment once sanctions are lifted. Britain and Iran should also be ready to discuss the challenges we both face including terrorism, regional stability, the spread of Isil in Syria and Iraq, counter-narcotics and migration.

The British Embassy’s compound was attacked by a crowd in November 2011. Britain soon withdrew its diplomatic staff and closed the Iranian Embassy in London, expelling Tehran’s personnel.

Talks to reopen the embassies have paralleled Iran’s nuclear discussions with the 5+1 Powers (Britain, US, France, Germany, China, and Russia), which produced an agreement on July 14.

Following a meeting between Foreign Secretary William Hague and Rouhani in September 2013 at the United Nations in New York, the two countries appointed non-resident chargés d’affaires.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini have also visited Tehran since mid-July.

The high-profile diplomacy has stood in contrast to attacks by some in the Iranian regime, including the Supreme Leader, on the US and declarations that the nuclear deal will not ease confrontation with Washington in the Middle East.

By EA WorldView