Opening of British Airways' Headquarters in Tehran

British Airways announced the opening of its headquarters in Tehran after resuming flights to the city a year ago. According to the Iranian state news agency IRNA, Robert William, the sales manager for Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East at British Airways, noted the long history of the airline's flights to Iran, stating that the reopening of the headquarters in the Iranian capital could 'maintain and enhance our customers' well-being.' Mr. William mentioned that 'British Airways customers can fly from Tehran to about 200 destinations in the British Airways network.' British Airways announced in January 2016 that it would resume its direct flights from London to Tehran and vice versa after a four-year hiatus. The first passenger flight, operated by a Boeing 777, took place on September 1, 2016. Currently, British Airways operates direct round-trip flights to Iran six days a week from Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport. Flights to Tehran were suspended in 2012 due to heightened nuclear sanctions against the Islamic Republic and a year after the attack on the British Embassy in Tehran, which led to the closure of embassies of both countries. The British airline Midland Airways had flights to Tehran until October 2012, but those were halted when the company was acquired by British Airways. With the implementation of the nuclear agreement and the lifting of foreign sanctions in January 2015, as well as the reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran on August 23, 2015, the obstacles to resuming flights to Iran were removed. British Airways is not the only foreign airline resuming flights to Tehran following the lifting of nuclear sanctions; the French airline Air France also resumed its flights to Tehran in April 2015 after an eight-year hiatus, with its first flight to Iran occurring in 1956.