Delegations from UK Parliament, Foreign Office to Visit Iran: MP
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A delegation from the British Parliament and another one from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office are going to visit Iran in the coming months, an Iranian lawmaker said.
Speaking to Tasnim, Alireza Rahimi, the head of Iran-Britain parliamentary friendship group, said negotiations have been conducted for the British parliamentary delegation’s trip to Iran, but an exact date for the visit has not been set yet.
He added that the delegation from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office will visit Tehran in the next Iranian month (September 23 – October 22) for talks on consular affairs.
In January 2014, a British parliamentary delegation, led by former foreign secretary Jack Straw, visited Iran as part of efforts to improve Tehran-London relations.
Iran-Britain ties soured in 2011. On November 27, 2011, a large majority of Iranian lawmakers voted to downgrade diplomatic ties with Britain, following Britain’s decision to impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran.
Later, angry Iranian students stormed the British embassy in Tehran and pulled down the European country’s flag.
Following the incident, Britain withdrew its diplomatic staff from Tehran on November 30 and asked Iran’s diplomatic delegation in London to leave within 48 hours.
The two countries made diplomatic efforts afterwards to amend ties.
In August 2015, the British embassy in Iran reopened after a 4-year closure. Britain’s then foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, attended a ceremony in Tehran to mark the reopening on August 23. It was the first visit by a British foreign secretary to Iran since 2003.
Simultaneously, Iran’s embassy in London also reopened.
The thaw in Tehran-London relations came after finalization of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
