Iran official says British Embassy in Tehran reopens Sunday

Hammond’s Tehran trip, the first by a British foreign secretary in almost 12 years, follows visits from the French and Italian foreign ministers, Germany’s vice chancellor, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief.

The embassy has been closed for nearly four years after hard-liners protesting the imposition of worldwide sanctions over Iran’s contested nuclear program stormed it in November 2011.

The Iranian official added that Iran’s embassy in London will also reopen at the same time.

The Islamic Republic of Iran will not dispatch an ambassador to the UK and the two countries’ diplomatic relations will remain at the level of charges d’affaires, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi said.

With the new development, Takht Ravanchi added, the status of non-resident charge d’affaires of the two countries will change into resident.

This culminated with Iran signing a deal with western powers agreeing to curb its nuclear ambitions in exchange for a lifting of tough sanctions.

It will be the first visit by a British foreign secretary to Iran since 2003.

On November 27, 2011, a large majority of Iranian lawmakers voted to downgrade diplomatic ties with Britain, following Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran.

“Reopening our embassies is a key step to improved bilateral relations”.

“This move does not mean that we agree on everything”. The role of embassies is to build co-operation where we agree and to reduce our differences where we don’t.