Reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran 'at the beginning of next week'

The Guardian reported on Thursday that the British Embassy in Tehran will officially reopen 'at the beginning of next week' with the presence of Philip Hammond, the UK Foreign Secretary, in the Iranian capital. The Guardian also mentioned that the British government has chosen a new ambassador for Tehran, but has not yet disclosed their name. The report states that the residence of the British ambassador and parts of the embassy building in Tehran have been repaired, and the embassy will initially operate with only a few diplomatic staff after reopening. The reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran comes about four years after protesters stormed the building in December 2011, taking down the British flag. At that time, Iranian news agencies, including Fars, described the protesters as 'students' and 'students from Tehran University.' The attack on the British embassy occurred less than a week after the Iranian parliament voted to reduce relations with London in response to UK sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran, with the head of the National Security Commission calling for the expulsion of the British ambassador from Iran. Now, following a comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group and the beginning of visits by high-ranking European officials to Tehran, The Guardian has reported that the British Foreign Secretary is set to join the ranks of European ministers who have visited Iran in the past month. Philip Hammond will be the fifth high-ranking European minister to visit Tehran after his Italian and French counterparts, the German Vice Chancellor, and the EU's foreign policy chief. This will be the first visit by a British Foreign Secretary to Tehran since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001; Jack Straw visited Iran in 2001, and now Philip Hammond will visit in 2015. According to The Guardian, Mr. Hammond will be accompanied by several prominent figures from the British economy and Simon Gass, the UK's representative in the nuclear negotiations with Iran. In late July, less than a week after the comprehensive nuclear agreement in Vienna, the British Prime Minister's office officially announced that David Cameron had told Hassan Rouhani in a phone conversation that the Vienna nuclear agreement marks a new beginning in relations between the two countries, and he is committed to reopening the British embassy in Tehran. A spokesperson for Mr. Cameron noted that the Prime Minister expressed hope that this agreement could be a fresh start in bilateral relations between Britain and Iran. A few days after this phone call, the British Foreign Office officially changed its previous advice to its citizens regarding avoiding unnecessary travel to Iran, stating that the risk of travel to Iran for British citizens has decreased.