Iran–United Kingdom relations

Iran–United Kingdom relations

Iran	United Kingdom

Iran–United Kingdom relations are the bilateral relations between the countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran, which was known as Persia before 1935, has had political relations with England since the late Ilkhanate period (13th century) when King Edward I of England sent Geoffrey of Langley to the Ilkhanid court to seek an alliance.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have considerably deteriorated in recent years, following the re-election of President Ahmadinejad.

On 28 November 2011 Iran downgraded its relations with Britain due to new sanctions put in place by the UK. The next day a band of students and Basiji attacked the UK embassy compound in Tehran, damaging property and driving the embassy staff away. On 30 November 2011, in response to the attack, the UK closed its embassy in Tehran and ordered the Iranian embassy in London closed.

According to a 2013 BBC World Service poll, only 5% of British people view Iran's influence positively, with 84% expressing a negative view. According to a 2012 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 16% of British people viewed Iran favorably, compared to 68% which viewed it unfavorably; 91% of British people oppose Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons and 79% approve of "tougher sanctions" on Iran, while 51% of British people support use of military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

From July 2012 until October 2013, British interests in Iran were maintained by the Swedish embassy in Tehran while Iranian interests in the United Kingdom were maintained by the Omani embassy in London.

On July 2013, it is announced that the UK would consider opening better relations with Iran "step-by-step" following the election of President Hassan Rouhani.

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