Iran, UK Embassies to Resume Issuing Visas

The Iranian Embassy in London and the UK diplomatic mission in Tehran decided to resume issuing visas beginning March after meeting between UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Iranian Embassy in London and the UK diplomatic mission in Tehran agreed to resume issuing visas beginning March, British media reported Friday.

According to The Guardian, the move followed a meeting between UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The UK Embassy in Tehran was closed following a mob attack in November 2011, after London had broadened its sanctions against Iran over nuclear weapon development concerns. In response, Iran closed its diplomatic mission in London.

The two countries reopened embassies in August 2015. The thaw in the relationship between the two states came after Iran and the six world powers — the United Kingdom among them — reached an agreement in July, obliging Tehran to guarantee the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of sanctions against the country.