June 14, 2012 
British foreign minister William Hague
DUBAI (Reuters) – British foreign minister William Hague met his Iranian counterpart on Thursday, ISNA news agency reported, the highest level diplomatic contact between the two nations since the storming of the British embassy in Tehran late last year.
Iranian protesters broke into two British diplomatic compounds in Tehran in November, ransacking offices and burning British flags in protest against new sanctions imposed by Britain on Iran.
The incident sparked a major row between the two countries, with Britain shutting its embassy in Tehran before Hague expelled all Iranian diplomats from London saying there had been “some degree of regime consent” in the attack.
Hague and Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi discussed the Islamic Republic’s nuclear negotiations with world powers as well as bilateral issues during their meeting on the sidelines of a conference in the Afghan capital Kabul, ISNA said.
The ISNA report indicates Hague and Salehi addressed the issue of diplomatic relations between the two countries which have been virtually non-existent since the embassy storming.
At the time, Hague said the majority of those involved in the assault were members of the Basij – a paramilitary volunteer group loyal to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
Iran’s foreign ministry expressed regret for the attack but says it indicated deep anger among the Iranian people over Britain’s historical treatment of the country. (*)
SOURCE : REUTERS
Posted Thursday, June 14, 2012
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