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Khatami Receives New British
Ambassador |
Following months of
wrangling between Tehran
and London, Richard John Dalton presented his credentials to Iranian President
Seyyed Mohammad Khatami as Iran’s new British Ambassador. Career diplomat
Dalton is an expert in
Persian Gulf
security and has served in several Muslim and African countries.
His appointment comes at a
time when Iran’s
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kamal Kharrazi is meeting with his British
counterpart, Jack Straw, in London for wide-ranging and constructive talks.
These talks addressed not only Britain’s relations with Iran, but also its
trade and investment ambitions.
Dalton was pleased to
announce that British trade with Iran was increasing in both directions. In
the last ten months of 2002 British exports were showing a 7% increase
compared to the same period in the previous year. A number of British
companies are interested in investing in Iran. There are proposals on the
table for investment in mines, glass manufacturing, the auto industry,
agriculture and of course oil and gas.
With regards to the
activities of British Petroleum (BP) and Rolls Royce engines used in Iran’s
aircraft, Dalton said that BP takes its own decisions about its operations,
but we are glad to see their activities in Iran and are supportive of them.
"Mutual investment and trade has encouragement at the highest level in the
British government." While appreciating the significance of modernizing Iran’s
air fleet for the Iranian traveler, He described the Rolls Royce issue as
complicated but an open question.
Dalton went on to identify
the Middle East peace process as an important part of
Britain’s
dialogue with Iran and stressed the fact that "no decision has been taken to
go to war" with Iraq. However, he gave his assurance that "[Britain]
will remain in close contact with Iran as the crisis develops." He went on to
say that despite some disagreements between Iran and the European Union (EU),
the EU was still pursuing a policy of constructive engagement and dialogue
with Iran to usher it into "the mainstream of the international community" and
identified criticisms as "a normal condition of international relations".
