British foreign secretary reopens embassy in Iran after 4-year closure

The pair watched as the Union flag was raised while the national anthem played as the embassy’s perimeter fence was guarded by dozens of Iranian police.

The British and Iranian embassies reopened simultaneously after four years of dead-lock diplomatic relations between the two countries.

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

Iran’s oil minister Bijan Zanganeh began negotiations with the British foreign secretary in Tehran.

On September 24, 2001, former British Foreign Minister Jack Straw visited Iran to seek cooperation after the September 11 attacks in the U.S. and became the first British foreign secretary to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution. He spoke of the importance of this diplomatic relationship, which dates back to the 19th century.

Four years after it was stormed by protesters, Britain’s embassy in Tehran was reopened on Sunday, two months after a nuclear deal was struck between the world major powers and the Islamic Republic.

On February 14, 1989, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had “sentenced to death” the British novelist Salman Rushdie – who was living in London at the time – for his book The Satanic Verses.

“Iran is and will remain a very important country in a strategically but volatile region”, he said.

Following a report on Iran’s nuclear programme from the global Atomic Energy Agency, Britain imposed numerous sanction on Iran including banning all UK financial institutions from doing business with their counterparts in Iran.

Norman Lamont was a Member of Parliament in 1980 and went on to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) in Margaret Thatcher’s government. He added any U.S. or multilateral sanctions, brought about by Iran’s failure to uphold its end of the agreement, could not be blocked by any other country.

Hammond said the embassies initially would function at the charge d’affaires level, but ambassadors should be agreed within months.

Britain and Iran should also work to tackle common challenges together, he said, including terrorism, regional stability, the spread of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the illegal drug trade and migration.

“We should forget the past and look forward to a better future”, he said. Deep mistrust remains on both sides.

In 2011, a group of student protesters assaulted the embassy, which led to its closure.

The British embassy to Iran has been reopened in the Iranian capital of Tehran, the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement on Sunday.

Asked about the continued opposition to the nuclear deal voiced by many in Washington, Hammond said it was always understood the agreement would be received differently there than in Britain, France or Germany, where it has been widely welcomed.

That thaw had come about after the June 2013 election in Iran of President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate who had reached out to the West from the early days of his presidency.

The British embassy in Tehran will have a small staff and just limited consular services to start.