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Hammond reopens UK embassy in Iran, hails new phase in relations
Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond yesterday reopened the UK’s embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran, describing it as a step to build confidence and trust between the two countries.
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.
During yesterday’s ceremony, which was attended by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif, Hammond said that the 2011 attack represented a “low point” in relations. However, he said that since the election of President Rouhani, things had “steadily improved, step by step.” Hammond added that, “Last month’s historic nuclear agreement was another milestone, and showed the power of diplomacy, conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect, to solve shared challenges.”
“Re-opening the embassy,” said Hammond “is the logical next step. To build confidence and trust between two great nations.” However, he acknowledged to the BBC that a “big deficit of trust” with Iran remains and that there are “major issues on which we have fundamental differences of view.” A Telegraph editorial this morning warns that the UK may have “moved too fast” in normalising relations with Iran. The Times’s editorial cautions the government to reach out to the Iranian people, while remaining sceptical of the Tehran regime.
Also yesterday, Iran simultaneously reopened its embassy in London. The developments will likely reinforce Israeli and Sunni Arab concerns that the recent nuclear deal will allow Iran improve its diplomatic and economic position, while continuing to pursue a destabilising radical and sectarian regional agenda. Such fears will have been strengthened over the weekend as Iran unveiled its new Fateh-313 surface to surface missile, in the presence of President Rouhani. The ballistic missile can apparently more accurately pinpoint targets within a 310 mile range.