Britain, Iran restore diplomatic ties

In a further sign of improving relations between Tehran and the West, Britain and Iran have re-established diplomatic ties that were broken in 2011.

The decision was reached on the sidelines of nuclear negotiations in Geneva that include the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.

Those talks, which both sides said had moved closer to a deal, will resume Nov. 10.

Reuters reports that Britain will immediately send Ajay Sharma, the head of the Foreign Office's Iran department, to take up the post in Tehran.

Iran's Mehr news agency reports that Tehran will send a new charge d'affaires, Hassan Habibollah Zadeh, to London.

Relations between the two countries broke off in 2011 after Iranian protesters stormed the Britain Embassy in Tehran. Britain responded by expelling Iran's ambassador to London.

The attack appeared to be a state-sponsored protest against Britain's tough new economic sanctions against Iran, The New York Times reported in 2011.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said last month that it was "clear that the new president and ministers in Iran are presenting themselves and their country in a much more positive way than in the recent past."

In another sign of Iran's apparent outreach to the West, the Mehr news agency unveiled its new website Monday.

"The new page displays Twitter, Facebook, and Google plus icons to formally announce its robust presence in social networks," the new agency says