Hammond's comments on Israel strike nerve in Iran
The British foreign secretary visited Tehran for the reopening of the United Kingdom's embassy after four years, but his comments about Israel and Iran drew sharp criticism from Iranian officials.
The reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran can be counted as one of President Hassan Rouhani’s midterm accomplishments and the fulfillment of a campaign promise to improve relations with the world. The embassy was closed under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2011 after hard-line university students stormed the embassy in protest against the sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond attended the ceremony Aug. 23 in Tehran to mark the reopening. He is the first British foreign secretary to visit Iran since 2003. Hammond met with Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
At a joint news conference, Hammond called the closing of the embassy a "low point” in UK-Iran relations but said after Rouhani’s elections, relations “steadily improved, step by step." His comment that “Iran is, and will remain, an important country in a strategically important but volatile region” was welcomed by Iranian analysts.
However, Hammond had also earlier told the BBC that on some issues Iran and the United Kingdom continue to have “substantial policy differences.” His comments that Iran has shown a more nuanced approach with Israel and “what we’re looking for is behavior from Iran, not only towards Israel but towards other players in the region” has caused a controversy inside the country.
A Fars News headline quoted Hammond as saying “Iran’s position with Israel has changed a little” and that “Iran is no longer a threat to Israel.” However, the text of the article did not include those explosive and incorrect translations.
