BICOM

The UK is to reopen its embassy in Iran, nearly four years after it was closed, in a ceremony to be attended by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in Tehran on Sunday. The development has been expected for some time, with the Foreign Secretary telling the House of Commons in recent weeks that largely technical issues had been holding up the restoration of full diplomatic ties.

The UK shut its embassy in Tehran and ejected Iranian diplomats from London after the Iranian authorities allowed a mob of regime loyalist protestors to overrun and ransack the embassy in November 2011. The UK and Iran have been gradually restoring diplomatic relations since 2013 against the backdrop of negotiations to reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Foreign Secretary will travel to Tehran to attend the opening, accompanied by a small delegation including business leaders, according to reports. He will be the first British Foreign Secretary to visit Iran since Jack Straw. The move reflects Britain’s desire to re-establish normal diplomatic relations, and also British economic interests given the opportunities expected to be created by the lifting of sanctions on the Iranian economy.

The development will likely reinforce Israeli and Sunni Arab concerns that the nuclear deal paves the way for Iran to improve its diplomatic and economic position, whilst the Iranian regime continuing to pursue a destabilising radical and sectarian regional agenda.

The embassy will be led by Ajay Sharma, who has been non-resident chargé d’affaires since 2013, until the announcement of a new British ambassador. Iran’s embassy in London is also expected to resume its operations.