London takes lead in restoring ties with Tehran

By Sara Rajabova - AzerNews 

While the United States public is arguing about the nuclear deal signed between P5+1 group countries and Iran, European countries have no intention of losing steam.

At a time when the White House is taking every effort to convince Congress to accept the agreement, Washington’s closest ally – The UK - has taken significant steps to mend broken ties with Tehran.

The British got ahead of the other Europeans with restoring the diplomatic relations with the Iranians after a four-year diplomatic divorce.

While, German, French, Italian and the other Europeans visited Tehran to look for opportunities in reviving cooperation with Iran after the removal of the sanctions, the United Kingdom has gone step forward with reopening its embassy in Tehran.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited Tehran on August 23 to take part in the opening of the UK embassy, where he also discussed “a vast array of issues his country plans to do in cooperation with Iran” with senior Iranian officials.

Hammond's trip is the first visit to Iran by a British foreign secretary since 2003.

"Iran is and will remain an important country in an important and highly volatile region," Hammond said during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on August 23, Trend reported.

British officials had repeatedly voiced their intentions to reopen the British embassy in Tehran, after it closed following an attack in 2011.

Relations between Iran and Britain remained tense for some time as a result of disagreements on Iran's nuclear program.

The improvement in relations came as the P5+1 group of countries and Iran reached an agreement over a dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program in Vienna in mid-July.

This move is considered as a significant milestone in Tehran’s return to the international community of states after the long-standing enmity between the Islamic Republic and the West.

Experts believe that the reopening of the British embassy in Tehran is economically-motivated more so than a political maneuver.

London seeks to take the lead in cooperation with the energy-rich Islamic Republic, whose vast energy resources remained inaccessible for the West because of international sanctions.

Lord Lamont, the Conservative former Chancellor of the Exchequer, last year warned that the UK was being left “miles behind” in exploiting the reopening of Iranian markets, the Financial Times reported.

The resolution of the nuclear dispute paved the way for big opportunities for both the European countries and Tehran.

“Iran has a large economy, so it is in everyone’s interest that Iran remains engaged,” Hammond said.

Hammond also stated that while areas of disagreement remain between Iran and Britain, they will focus on “areas of interest and mutual benefits” between the two countries.

This is sound justification for the theory that economic interests come before that of all others. It shows Iran’s significance as a country for investment opportunities and as a highly attractive market for capital goods.

“This is a vast emerging market to open up, a vast frontier market. Iran is potentially something of an energy superpower,” Norman Lamont, a former British finance minister who now chairs the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters.

While in Tehran, Hammond also met with Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran. With the recent thaw in diplomatic relations, he said Britain wants to work with Iran's central bank to make it easier for banks in the United Kingdom to finance trade and investment in the Persian Gulf country.?

He said there is a “huge appetite” on the part of British commercial and industrial enterprises to engage in Iran if sanctions are lifted under the nuclear deal agreed last month.

Seif claimed that Iran has four banks in Britain and will set up two new banks in London in the near future.

In the meantime, London’s move might hurt its closest ally Washington. Prior to the British embassy’s reopening in Tehran, the U.S. Department of State had rejected to comment on the issue, saying “it’s a sovereign country, and they can make these decisions for themselves.”

Ajay Sharma, London’s chargé d’affaires to Tehran currently residing in London, will initially lead a small team of diplomats to the embassy. An ambassador will eventually follow, but the Foreign Office has declined to say who has been chosen for the role.