Iran, Britain to open interests sections: FM

Iran and Britain have agreed to open interests sections seven months after Britain closed its embassy in Tehran and ordered Iran to shut its London mission, local media reported on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying that Oman will run the Iranian interests section in Britain while Sweden will represent British interests in Tehran.

The decision was taken during talks he had with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in Kabul earlier this month on the sidelines of a conference on the future of Afghanistan, he said.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Foreign Office in London.

Relations between Tehran and London have been at an all-time low since last November when Britain closed its embassy in Tehran after a rampage of the building by Islamist students.

It also ordered Iran’s embassy in Britain shut, although neither side severed diplomatic ties over the incident.

Hundreds of pro-regime supporters described as student members of Iran’s Basij militia stormed Britain’s embassy and another British diplomatic compound in Tehran on November 29.

They were demonstrating in front of the British embassy to express anger over new Western sanctions levelled at Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme.

“Based on the agreement reached, Oman will be Iran’s interests section in Britain and Sweden will be Britain’s interest section in Iran,” Salehi was quoted as saying.

Britain was one of the first European countries to adopt sanctions against the Iranian central bank to put pressure on Tehran for its nuclear programme.