Heading a delegation of British diplomats, Gass arrived in Tehran on Monday and held a series of talks with top Iranian Foreign Ministry officials during his brief stay in the country.
In a meeting with the director general of West Europe affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry, the visiting British diplomat discussed the latest developments concerning the bilateral relations, including the status quo of the two countries’ embassies, consular services provided for the Iranian expatriates in Britain, and talks on the gradual improvement of Tehran-London strained relations.
Gass also held separate meetings with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for American and European Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi and with Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi, and discussed mainly the issue of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Simon Gass used to serve as Britain’s ambassador to Tehran from 2009 to 2011. He is also a member of the British team of negotiators, engaged in talk with Iran over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.
Britain, along with five other nations – Russia, China, the US, France and Germany - are negotiating with Iran to reach a final, comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear case.
Earlier in March, in a video message released on the advent of the new Iranian year, British Foreign Secretary William Hague underlined his country’s commitment to improving strained relations with Iran.
Signaling London’s willingness for a thaw in strained relations with Tehran, Hague said, “I want to say to the Iranian people that the UK looks forward this year to improving relations with Iran.”
He also pointed to the recent efforts made jointly by Iran and Britain to improve the bilateral ties, and noted, “Our diplomats are visiting each other’s countries after a gap of nearly two years.”
“We are establishing new relationships and we’re talking to each other about a range of matters important to both our countries,” he explained.