UK, Iran announce first ambassadors in 5 years

Iran and Britain appoint new ambassadors to each other’s countries for the first time since a mob ransacked the British embassy in Tehran in 2011.

Hamid Baeidinejad, 53, is named as Tehran’s envoy to London, according to the ISNA state news agency.

Britain appoints Nicholas Hopton — the current charge d’affairs in Tehran — as its first ambassador to Iran since relations were severed following the storming of the embassy by students in five years ago.

“The upgrade in diplomatic relations gives us the opportunity to develop our discussions on a range of issues, including our consular cases about which I am deeply concerned,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says in a statement, referring to the ongoing detention of dual nationals in Iran.

“I hope this will mark the start of more productive cooperation between our countries, enabling us to discuss more directly issues such as human rights and Iran’s role in the region, as well as ongoing implementation of the nuclear deal and the expansion of the trading relationship between both our countries,” says Johnson.

Baeidinejad worked as an expert on disarmament and represented Iran in several roles at the United Nations, including as ambassador between 2008 and 2011.

— AFP