Britain's Embassy in Tehran to Re-Open

The British embassy in Tehran will reopen this weekend. The embassy was closed four years ago when protesters stormed its building in central Tehran and damaged the property. At the time, Britain also asked Iran to close its embassy in London. The Iranian foreign ministry said today that the Iranian embassy in London will also be reopened this weekend.

Iran and UK Agree to Exchange Diplomats

Iran and Britain have agreed to exchange diplomats and begin talks aimed at further improving relations, officials from both countries confirmed today.

“Pursuant to a decision by the Iranian parliament, it was agreed that from today the two countries have a relationship at the level of non-resident charges d'affaires,” announced foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham. (ISNA/Al Jazeera, 8 October)

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he and his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, had agreed to appoint non-resident charge d’affaires, which would discuss the eventual reopening of the British embassy in Tehran and the Iranian Embassy in London.

British embassy in Tehran was closed after a mob overran the building in late 2011. Iranian embassy in London was also closed.

The recent election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has raised hopes of a thaw between Iran and the West.

Hague told lawmakers the coming months “may be unusually significant” in British-Iranian relations.

“It is clear that the new president and ministers in Iran are presenting themselves and their country in a much more positive way than in the recent past. There is no doubt that the tone of the meetings with them is different,” he told the House of Commons. (Al Jazeera, 8 October)
Photo credit: Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham announcing the resumption of diplomatic thaw with United Kingdom. (EPA/Al Jazeera)

Britain Orders Closure of Iranian Embassy in London

Iranian Diplomats in Britain Given 48 Hours to Leave the Country

The British Foreign Secretary William Hague today ordered the immediate closure of the Iranian Embassy in London and gave the Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave Britain. The move came a day after the British embassy in Tehran came under attack by a mob that ransacked the embassy and another British diplomatic site in Qolhak, in northern Tehran. Britain has closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated all its diplomatic staff from Iran.

British Embassy Under Attack: New Pictures

Source: Tabnak

Tehran: British Embassy Attacked - UPDATE

Radical "students" stormed British diplomatic sites in Tehran today, bringing down the Union Jack flag, burning an embassy vehicle and throwing documents from windows.

The mob surged past riot police into the British Embassy complex and pelted it with stones and Molotov Cocktail, the Associated Press reported. Demonstrators outside the embassy also burned British flags, chanting “Death to Britain.” The occupiers also tore down picture of Queen Elizabeth II. The police have apparently regained control of the site.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported that hundreds of other protesters attacked the British ambassador’s residence in northern Tehran and replaced British flags with the flags of the Islamic Republic.

Yesterday, the Iranian parliament, Majlis, passed a resolution to expel the British ambassador to Tehran and then the members of parliament began chanting “Death to Britain.” The action could have been interpreted by the mob today as a green light to attack the British compounds with impunity.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency said most of the embassy staff had left the compound before the mobs entered, but it also said those who occupied the area had taken six staff as hostages. The report by Mehr has now been taken off its website.

The mob called for the closure of the embassy calling it a “spy den” — the same phrase used after another mob stormed the US embassy in Tehran in 1980 and held 52 hostages for 444 days.

UPDATE: Fars News Agency has confirmed earlier reports that the occupiers of the British compound in north Tehran, Bagh-e Qolhak, had taken six employees of the British embassy hostage. The authorities have freed the hostages and handed them over to the British embassy staff. Fars also reports that the police has now cleared the compound as well as the embassy building in the center of Tehran of all the occupiers.