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Sunday 23 Aug 2015 - 13:41 Makkah mean time-8-11-1436
 London, (IINA) - Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond will formally reopen the UK embassy in Tehran on Sunday, nearly four years after it was shut down, according to media reports.
Philip Hammond added that Iran's embassy in London will reopen at the same time, initially at charge d'affaires level, with a view to installing the two countries' respective ambassadors in the coming months.
Hammond’s Tehran trip, the first by a British foreign secretary in nearly 12 years, comes soon after visits from the French and Italian foreign ministers, Germany’s vice-chancellor, and the EU’s foreign policy chief.
Hammond will be accompanied on his visit by a handful of British business leaders as well as the Foreign Office Political Director, Sir Simon Gass, who represented Britain in the marathon talks leading up to the July nuclear agreement.
European officials have been quick to visit Tehran since July 14, when Iran struck a deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, ending a 13-year stand-off over its nuclear program.
The reopened British embassy will be staffed initially by a small number of diplomats led by Ajay Sharma, who has been non-resident chargé d’affaires since 2013. A new British ambassador has been chosen but not yet announced. Before the storming of the British embassy in Tehran, Iran’s parliament, the Majlis, voted to downgrade bilateral relations from ambassadorial to the rung below, the level of chargé d’affaires. Majlis approval is likely to be needed to restore ambassadorial ties.
Furthermore, in order to authorize the renewed issue of visas to Iranian applicants in Tehran, the UK Home Office insisted that a bilateral agreement was signed allowing for the repatriation of Iranian nationals in Britain who had overstayed their visas. However, Iranian law forbids acceptance of Iranians deported from foreign governments against their will.
"Reopening our embassies is a key step to improved bilateral relations," said Hammond.
"In the first instance, we will want to ensure that the nuclear agreement is a success, including by encouraging trade and investment once sanctions are lifted."
He said London and Tehran should also be ready to discuss challenges including terrorism, regional stability, and the spread of the ISIS jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.
Plans to reopen the embassy were announced in June last year.
SM/IINA
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