British Embassy In Tehran

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

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he would reopen the UK's embassy in Iran on Sunday, four years on since it was trashed by a mob, as Tehran's ties warm with the West.

Britain will reopen its embassy in Iran this weekend nearly four years after protesters ransacked the elegant ambassadorial residence and burned the British flag, a British diplomatic source said on Thursday.

Britain and Iran on Monday named non-resident charges d'affaires to each other's capitals, with London's envoy to visit Tehran this month to start mending ties severed by the ransacking of the British embassy in 2011.

France is temporarily downsizing its embassy in Iran and will bring some employees and their families home, a French official said on Saturday. The move is the latest fallout from protesters' storming of the British embassy in Tehran and adds to the international pressure on the Iranian government.

Iran has released 11 hardline protesters detained for storming the British Embassy and diplomatic compounds in Tehran this week, the semi-official Fars news agency said Thursday.

The semi-official Mehr news agency said embassy staff had left the compound before the mobs entered, but it also said those who occupied the area had taken six staff as hostages. It did not give their nationalities and the report could not immediately be confirmed.

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

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he would reopen the UK's embassy in Iran on Sunday, four years on since it was trashed by a mob, as Tehran's ties warm with the West.

Britain will reopen its embassy in Iran this weekend nearly four years after protesters ransacked the elegant ambassadorial residence and burned the British flag, a British diplomatic source said on Thursday.

Britain and Iran on Monday named non-resident charges d'affaires to each other's capitals, with London's envoy to visit Tehran this month to start mending ties severed by the ransacking of the British embassy in 2011.

France is temporarily downsizing its embassy in Iran and will bring some employees and their families home, a French official said on Saturday. The move is the latest fallout from protesters' storming of the British embassy in Tehran and adds to the international pressure on the Iranian government.

Iran has released 11 hardline protesters detained for storming the British Embassy and diplomatic compounds in Tehran this week, the semi-official Fars news agency said Thursday.

The semi-official Mehr news agency said embassy staff had left the compound before the mobs entered, but it also said those who occupied the area had taken six staff as hostages. It did not give their nationalities and the report could not immediately be confirmed.