U.K.’s Hammond to Visit Tehran as Diplomatic Ties Re-Established

The source in the Iranian foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed the reports, saying the reopening will take place during a visit by Hammond to Tehran on Sunday.

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.

Britain’s embassy in Iran was closed in 2011 after a crowd raided the diplomatic mission’s building because of the sanctions imposed by London. The assault also sparked condemnation from the UN Security Council, and some European countries recalled their envoys for consultations.

Iran and Britain agreed in October 2013 to appoint non-resident chargé d’affaires as a first step towards reopening their respective embassies.

Re-opening the embassy could unsettle British allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, which have poor relations with Iran.

Since then “ties have slowly been warming”, our correspondent said, but he added that last month’s nuclear deal had clearly been decisive in prompting the UK embassy to be reopened. However, Iranian law forbids acceptance of Iranians deported from foreign governments against their will.

And with the worldwide community lifting decades of crippling sanctions, this could encourage travel to Iranparticularly by businessmen in quest of investing in the Islamic republic which needs to revamp its battered economy. He will take a small group of business leaders, including representatives from Royal Dutch Shell and other companies, with him on the trip, according to the source.

It was expected the countries would improve diplomatic relations two years ago and reopen their embassies, but technical issues delayed those plans.

The diplomatic thaw comes after a nuclear deal was recently reached between Tehran and six other world powers, including the UK.