London - Arab Today
British non-resident Charge d'Affaires to Iran, Ajay Sharma visited on Tuesday Tehran, the first British official visiting the country since 2011. The British Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sharma held meetings with Iranian foreign ministry officials and exchanged views on future steps the countries would take and efforts to reestablish diplomatic ties after a two-year suspension. "I had a good first visit back to Tehran today and want to thank the Iranian authorities, particularly my counterpart Mr Habibollahzadeh, for facilitating the trip," Sharma said. "I held detailed and constructive discussions with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about taking forward our bilateral relationship on a step by step and reciprocal basis. I also visited our Embassy compounds to assess the damage caused in 2011. "I intend to visit Iran regularly to continue the step by step process of improving relations between our two countries," Sharma added. Last October, the British government said they have reached a deal on having to exchange non-resident Charge d'Affaires of both countries, as a step toward also having exchange ambassadors and reestablishing full diplomatic ties between the two countries.