“If Majlis concludes that the UK is calling for resumption and improvement of ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran within the framework of the international and diplomatic laws and norms, it will adopt the required decisions for improving the ties,” Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, spokesman for Iran's Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, added in a Sunday interview.
“The general policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to establish peaceful and friendly ties with everyone, except the regime occupying al-Quds (Israel),” he pointed out.
On August 4, British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the occasion of his inauguration and called for improved ties with Iran.
In a phone call to Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on July 31, British Foreign Secretary William Hague also expressed UK’s willingness to enhance cooperation and diplomatic contacts with the Islamic Republic and offered to hold further talks with Iranian representatives to discuss ways to improve bilateral relations.
On November 27, 2011, Iranian lawmakers voted by a large majority to downgrade diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom, in response to Britain's decision to impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran, over the allegation that Tehran's nuclear energy program may include a covert military agenda.
Two days after the decision by Iran Majlis, hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest outside the British Embassy in Tehran and pulled down the UK flag.
On November 30, London withdrew its diplomatic staff from Iran and the Iranian Embassy in London was closed.
