UK to Reopen Embassy in Iran - British FM Hague

The United Kingdom's Embassy in Tehran is to reopen after a three-year pause, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced.

Britain's Embassy will be open again "as soon as practical arrangements are made", the BBC quotes Hague as saying in a written statement.

The move declared by the Foreign Secretary, which he calls a sign of "increasing confidence", comes in the light of tensions in Iraq, a country neighboring Iran, to which Tehran has promised assistance in fighting Islamist militants holding a few towns and cities while attempting to take control of the capital Baghdad.

Actions by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have prompted calls for cooperation between the West and Tehran to prevent the establishment of an Islamist enclave out of ISIS-controlled territories.

Britain's relations with Iran, as well as those between Tehran and the West in general, are also considered to have approved since Hassan Rouhani was elected President in 2013.

In February 2014, London agreed to renew direct diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic after any dialogue had been conducted through third parties for 3 years.

Suspension had been caused by attacks on the British Embassy in Iran's capital in 2011, when hardline Islamic supporters stormed and ransacked the building.