Iran appoints permanent envoy to Britain

A month after British embassy reopens in Tehran, Mohammad Habibollahzadeh announced as chargé d’affaires to London

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s state TV is reporting the country has appointed its non-resident diplomat as permanent top envoy to Britain.

The Sunday report said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appointed Mohammad Hassan Habibollahzadeh as chargé d’affaires to London.

The career diplomat has served as non-resident chargé d’affaires to Britain for the past two years.

Habibollahzadeh has previously served in Russia and Switzerland and as Tehran’s envoy to the International Maritime Organization.

Iran and Britain reopened their embassies on August during a visit to Tehran by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

The move came nearly four years after hard-liners protesters in Tehran stormed the British embassy in November 2011.

The remnants of the four-year-old attack that led to its closure could still be seen on the walls of Britain’s Tehran embassy when it reopened its doors on August 23, with the words “Death to England” still scrawled in Arabic over a portrait of Queen Elizabeth.

Four-year-old graffiti reading 'Death to England' is seen above a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at the British embassy in Tehran as it reopened on August 23, 2015, for the first time since November 2011 riots. (screen capture: Channel 2) — Four-year-old graffiti reading ‘Death to England’ is seen above a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at the British embassy in Tehran as it reopened on August 23, 2015, for the first time since November 2011 riots. (screen capture: Channel 2)

Britain has had no diplomatic presence in Tehran since the embassy attack, but the election of President Hassan Rouhani and the recent nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have brought about a significant diplomatic thaw.