Attack on the British Embassy in Iran

The United States announced Aug. 24 it has "no intention" to reopen an embassy in Tehran, just one day after the United Kingdom reopened its diplomatic mission in the Iranian capital.

In a sign of thawing relations of the West with Iran Britain has reopened its embassy in Tehran on Sunday, newswires reported.

"Today's ceremony marks the end of one phase in the relationship between our two countries and the start of a new one - one that I believe offers the promise of better," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said, according to Reuters.

Britain's foreign secretary reopened his country's embassy in Tehran on Aug. 23 in a long-awaited step signalling better relations four years after a mob stormed the compound, forcing its closure.

Britain and Iran will reopen their respective embassies in the coming days, an Iranian official said on Aug. 20, four years after their closure when protesters angry over nuclear sanctions stormed the UK mission in Tehran.

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.