Quotations in the News

Hammond said that it was important that the two countries maintained dialogue even under the most hard conditions.

“Re-opening the Embassy is the logical next step”.

Philip Hammond claimed the move would build trust between the two nations and insisted there should be “no limit” to what could be achieved in the future.

The British embassy in Iran has reopened almost 4-years after it was shut down by massive demonstrations which ended up leaving the two countries with virtually no diplomatic ties during that time.

The Iranian embassy in London was additionally set to reopen on Sunday.

Hammond’s visit and the reopening of the embassy come weeks after Iran reached a deal with six world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear program.

The US embassy was sacked in the early days of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 by students who feared a repeat of a 1953 coup, when the Central Intelligence Agency orchestrated the overthrow of Iran’s prime minister.

However, the 2013 election of reformist-minded Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated a gradual thaw.

He said of the Iranian perspective: “I also detect a change in the approach, the language, the rhetoric around the UK”. Staff were seized by protestors.

European countries, including Britain, France, Serbia and Italy, have sent officials and delegations to Iran following the nuclear agreement in a bid to secure possible economic opportunities.

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.

Hundreds of protestors smashed windows, torched cars and burned Union Jack flags after Iran announced it was expelling the UK’s ambassador in retaliation for British support for tougher sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

The reopening in Tehran, though a significant step forward in relations for both countries, was received with little fanfare.

“Over the coming months, we will work to ensure that the nuclear agreement is a success, including by making sure that it is fully implemented by all sides”, Hammond said at the reopening.

At the ceremony and a later joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Mr Hammond said disagreements were inevitable but London and Tehran could deepen co-operation on such important regional issues as battling drug trafficking, terrorism and the growing power of the Islamic State militant group.

South Korean minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoo Il-ho is also visiting Iran, as well as Algeria and Malta, from August 21 to 29, the ministry has said.