Agencies, Tehran :
UK and Iran to simultaneously re-open embassies as bilateral relations improve following 2011 rampage in Tehran.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has presided over the reopening of UK’s embassy in Tehran, four years after it was trashed by a mob.
Hammond’s visit on Sunday is the first by a British foreign secretary since 2003, as Tehran’s ties warm with the West.
Hammond watched the British flag being raised in the garden of the opulent 19th century building while the national anthem played.
“Today’s ceremony marks the end of one phase in the relationship between our two countries and the start of a new one – one that I believe offers the promise of better,” he said.
Iran’s embassy in London also re-opened around the same time, initially at charge d’affaires level, with a view to installing the two countries’ respective ambassadors in the coming months.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from London, said the re-opening of the embassies could pave the way for renewed economic ties between the two countries.
The accord will see the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on Iran and has sparked a flurry of interest from countries seeking to re-connect with the oil-rich Islamic republic.
UK and Iran to simultaneously re-open embassies as bilateral relations improve following 2011 rampage in Tehran.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has presided over the reopening of UK’s embassy in Tehran, four years after it was trashed by a mob.
Hammond’s visit on Sunday is the first by a British foreign secretary since 2003, as Tehran’s ties warm with the West.
Hammond watched the British flag being raised in the garden of the opulent 19th century building while the national anthem played.
“Today’s ceremony marks the end of one phase in the relationship between our two countries and the start of a new one – one that I believe offers the promise of better,” he said.
Iran’s embassy in London also re-opened around the same time, initially at charge d’affaires level, with a view to installing the two countries’ respective ambassadors in the coming months.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from London, said the re-opening of the embassies could pave the way for renewed economic ties between the two countries.
The accord will see the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on Iran and has sparked a flurry of interest from countries seeking to re-connect with the oil-rich Islamic republic.
