LONDON
British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond will visit Iran this weekend to formally re-open the U.K. embassy in Tehran, according to Foreign & Commonwealth Office and media reports.
“We can confirm that the Foreign Secretary will be visiting Tehran over the coming days,” a FCO spokeswoman told Anadolu Agency.
Iran will also open its embassy in London at the same time according to reports.
The decision of mutually re-opening diplomatic missions from the two countries came following the recently reached deal between Iran and P5+1 group on Iran’s nuclear energy program, which had led to U.N. sanctions.
The U.K. embassy in Tehran was shut down in 2011 when a group of protesters raided and looted the building and ambassador’s residence during a rally against nuclear energy program related sanctions on Iran.
The diplomatic relations between the U.K. and Iran was at the level of non-resident charge d’affaires.
Hammond will be the first foreign secretary to visit Iran after former secretary Jack Straw’s 2003 visit.
On July 14, the world powers P5+1 group -- the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany -- reached a final nuclear agreement with Iran, which agreed to curb its nuclear research program and to open its nuclear and military facilities for IAEA inspections.
