After almost 4 Years, British Embassy Reopens In Tehran

The comments came during a visit to Tehran to meet with President Hassan Rouhani and reopen Britain’s embassy – which still bear traces of hostility with “Death to England” graffiti scrawled on the wall – nearly four years after it was closed.

The recent agreement accelerated a thaw in diplomatic relations with Tehran and opened the door to the first such visit to the country by a British Foreign Secretary since 2003.

Tehran and world powers struck a deal last month on Iran’s contested nuclear program, and on Sunday Britain and Iran reopened their respective embassies after a break of several years.

Hammond and the brand new British cost d’affaires, Ajay Sharma, have been attending the embassy reopening ceremony along with representatives of the Iranian Ministry of Overseas Affairs, the Overseas Workplace stated.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (L) and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif … Then-Foreign Secretary William Hague told Parliament at the time that the closure of the embassy reduced relations with Iran to the lowest level possible.

London responded by expelling Iranian diplomats.

Reiterating that Iran would fulfill its commitments based on the July 14 nuclear deal signed in Vienna, Rouhani stressed that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons and its nuclear facilities were monitored by the worldwide Atomic Energy Agency. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be talking, that we shouldn’t attempt dialogue, that we shouldn’t discuss areas where we do see eye to eye.

Iran has been slowly returning to the worldwide fold as progress was made in talks over its nuclear ambitions with Britain, the United States, China, Russia, France and Germany.

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

The Foreign Office later eased its advice against travelling to Iran, saying the risk faced by British nationals had changed in parts of the country.

He said that while both countries agreed on the need to tackle jihadist group Islamic State, there were disagreements on human rights issues. The embassy buildings should have been guarded by Iranian security officers.

Speaking to Reuters during his trip to Iran, Hammond said a lot of preparatory work needed to take place before lifting sanctions so investment can start to flow as soon as they are removed.

The nuclear deal is undergoing a bruising review in the US Congress, but President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any vote against the historic agreement.