UK says needs to tread carefully with Iran, deep legacy of distrust

Philip Hammond made the statement the day after the reopening of the British embassy in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

“Reopening the embassy is the logical next step to build confidence and trust between two great nations”.

The embassy has been closed since November 2011, when it was stormed by demonstrators protesting the imposition of global sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Some damage remains visible, with graffiti above a portrait of the queen declaring “Death to the English”, according to the BBC. But it is right that Britain and Iran should have a presence in each other’s countries.

While the attack in 2011 was a “low point”, Hammond said, the two countries’ relationship has steadily improved since Hassan Rouhani became president in 2013.

Danesh-Yazdi was among the officials present at the Sunday ceremony to reopen the Iranian embassy in London.

Almost four years after Iranian protesters breached the gates of the British Embassy in Tehran, flouting the norms of diplomatic accords as they hauled down the flag, ransacked the ambassador’s residence, and removed hard drives and other sensitive material, the embassy reopened Sunday.

The move is another step in the warming of relations with Tehran after a landmark nuclear deal was reached between Iran and six major world powers including Britain last month. The latter were angry about tougher sanctions imposed by the British against the clerical regime for its controversial nuclear program.

Ahead of the ceremony, Britain’s Foreign Office said Iran’s Embassy in London would also open at the same time, initially at the chargé d’affaires level, with the aim of installing ambassadors at both facilities in the coming months. Hammond says the two countries share common ground despite deep legacy of distrust.

He said there is a “huge appetite” on the part of British commercial and industrial businesses to engage in Iran if sanctions are lifted under the nuclear deal agreed last month. Historic moment in UK-Iran relations, ‘ Hammond tweeted.

But the United States, which led the nuclear talks, has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1979 following the 444-day hostage crisis that followed the storming of its Tehran embassy.

But following the election of Hassan Rouhani and an agreement on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme, the then Foreign Secretary William Hague proposed the reopening of the embassy in June a year ago.

He said London and Tehran should also be ready to discuss challenges including extremism, regional stability, and the spread of the Daesh (the so-called IS) group in Syria and Iraq.