Hague: Britain Eager to Consolidate Relations with Iran

(FNA)- British Foreign Secretary William Hague felicitated the Iranian nation on the advent of Nowruz, and stressed his country's enthusiasm for broadening bilateral relations and mutual cooperation with Tehran in all the various fields.

“Nowruz is also a time for fresh starts and in that spirit I want to say to the Iranian people that the United Kingdom looks forward this year to improving relations with Iran,” Hague in a video message for the New Persian Year which will start on Friday.

“This is something our two governments have been working over the last few months; our diplomats are visiting each others’ countries after a gap of nearly two years. We are establishing new relationships and we are talking to each other about a range of matters important to both our countries,” he added.

The British diplomat further pointed out in his Nowruz message that talks can help settle “differences” between the two countries.

“Of course, it doesn’t mean we have resolved our all differences. We haven’t. There remain many pressing issues for us to address.  But I firmly believe that constructive dialogue and improved cooperation between the UK and Iran is in all our interests. For that reason, we will continue our efforts to improve relations in ways that bring concrete benefits to both our people,” Hague stated.

Iran and Britain officially resumed direct diplomatic talks in February.

“There are direct ties between the two countries at the moment,” Tehran’s non-resident Charge d’Affaires in London Hassan Habibollahzadeh announced at the time.

He recalled that after the meeting of Iranian and British ministers in New York last September, they agreed to reestablish relations between Iran and the UK.

“In the next step, they introduced two chargé d’affaires and from today 20th February we start our direct contact with each other,” the envoy said.

Early in December in his first trip to Britain, Habibollahzadeh entered London and headed for the Embassy in Kensington to inspect the consular services rendered to the Iranians living in Britain.

Also in December, the British non-resident Charge d' Affaires Ajay Sharma who had traveled to Iran for an official visit expressed pleasure in his talks with his Iranian counterpart Habibollahzadeh and other officials in Tehran.

Sharma's visit was the first British diplomat to travel to the country since ties were severed in 2011.

"I had a good first visit back to Tehran and want to thank the Iranian authorities, particularly my counterpart Habibollahzadeh, for facilitating the trip," Sharma said in a statement issued by the UK Foreign Office.

"I held detailed and constructive discussions with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about taking forward our bilateral relationship on a step-by-step and reciprocal basis," he added.

In October, Iran and Britain agreed to announce the names of their non-resident charges d’affaires.

In a meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York City on September 23, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his British counterpart William Hague discussed improvement of Tehran-London relations, Iran’s nuclear energy program as well as regional developments.

On November 27, 2011, Iranian lawmakers voted by a large majority to downgrade diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom, in response to Britain's decision to impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran over the allegation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Two days after the decision by the Iranian parliament, hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest outside the British Embassy in Tehran and pulled down the UK flag.

On November 30, 2011, London cut off its ties with Tehran, withdrew its diplomatic staff from Iran and the Iranian Embassy in London was closed.