Britain reopened its embassy in Tehran on Sunday in a low-key ceremony – almost four years after an angry pro-regime mob stormed the outpost, stealing hard drives and forcing staff to evacuate.
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Sky News can reveal the full list of business leaders who have been invited to join Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary, on a visit to the Iranian capital.
In a historic step in the thawing of relations between Tehran and Western powers, Hammond on August 23 declared the British embassy open and raised the Union Jack flag within the garden of the 19th century residence in the heart of Tehran.
Britain has been taking a step-by-step approach to improve ties with Iran since the election of moderate President Hassan Rouhani in July 2013.
French and Italian ministers, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, have also held talks with Iranian counterparts in recent weeks.
The protesters slashed portraits of British monarchs, torched a auto and stole electronic equipment.
Graffiti reading “Death to England” still adorns the doors to a grand reception room in a reminder of the storming.
Plans to reopen the British embassy and the one in London had been in the works since past year and the nuclear deal has proven a catalyst for Iran to restore its ties with the world. Britain then closed the Iranian embassy in London and ordered all Iranian diplomats to leave.
Mr Hammond said: ‘This embassy and this special compound is a very special place: Since Britain acquired it in 1869, it has witnessed great moments both in the history of Iran and of Britain.
Britain has been cast for decades by opponents inside Iran as a perfidious “Old Fox” or “Little Satan” who does the bidding of “Big Satan”, the United States. The same month, the UK – along with Germany and France – drafts a resolution highly critical of Tehran’s unwillingness to cooperate with global Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors over Iran’s nuclear programme.
U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to exercise his veto if the U.S. Congress, dominated by Republicans opposed to the deal, rejects the agreement, which would start the process of lifting a raft of sanctions which have hurt Iran’s economy.
There had been regular protests outside the British embassy over the years since the 1979 Islamic revolution, but none were as violent as the 2011 storming in response to nuclear-related sanctions from London.
Students rampaged for hours through the embassy compound, tearing down the British flag, ripping up pictures of Queen Elizabeth II and trashing offices.
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Iran-U.K. ties have been fraught with ups and downs – mostly downs – since former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized the oil industry, was ousted in a coup – known as Operation Ajax – orchestrated by United Kingdom and U.S. intelligence services in 1953. The Iranian embassy in London was also reopened. In 2007, Iranian media carried stories of a secret tunnel running under a carpet shop and used to smuggle “spies and prostitutes” into the embassy. The ensuing hostage crisis lasted 444 days.
