Britain’s ‘Death to England’ Embassy

Philip Hammond is flying to Tehran for a ceremony to mark the move in the first visit to the country by a British foreign secretary since 2003.

Ali Larijani made the remarks in a meeting with visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in Tehran on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid endorsed the nuclear deal with Iran on Sunday and pledged to work to ensure its survival.

Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Alex Vatanka told Sputnik opening a US embassy in the Islamic Republic is premature and the mere suggestion could galvanize those in both countries against the nuclear deal.

Now, Iran has reached a deal with six of the major world powers, which is created to curb its military ambition in terms of nuclear development, and the signing of the deal has rapidly unlocked a number of doors – not least the doors of the embassies in London and Tehran.

Speaking from Tehran, Hammond praised the decision to re-open Britain’s embassy four years after it was forced to close after being stormed by protestors.

Britain has been cast for decades by opponents inside Iran as a perfidious “Old Fox” or “Little Satan” who does the bidding of “Big Satan”, the United States. That will bring benefits for Britain and the Iranian people.

“The thing we disagree on is the role of one single person, Bashar al-Assad, in this process”, he said.

Larijani expressed hope that Britain’s new approach can be built on mutual respect and interest and be in line with wiping out the negative mentality of Iranians regarding its past policies.

The United Kingdom embassy was shut down in 2011 when a group of protesters raided and looted the building and ambassador’s residence during a rally against nuclear program-related sanctions on Iran.

“I sense we are seen now more as part of Europe – a European country with whom Iran will be engaging alongside France, Germany, Italy and others – and less of the imperial Britain of the past with its legacy of involvement in Iran and the region”, Hammond said.

Britain and Iran should also be ready to discuss the challenges we both face including terrorism, regional stability, the spread of Isil [Islamic State] in Syria and Iraq, counter-narcotics and migration.

In 2007, Iranian media even claimed to have discovered a secret tunnel running from the embassy under a carpet shop which was used to smuggle “spies and prostitutes”.

He is only the second British foreign minister to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah. “The United States should make some changes”.