London will attempt on Tuesday to defuse strained ties with Iran by announcing the appointment of a new envoy to Tehran, a British daily said.
The Foreign Office will hail the appointment of Richard Dalton as a sign of improving relations with the Islamic Republic, The Guardian said.
Relations between London and Tehran plummeted in January when hard-liners in the Middle Eastern country succeeded in vetoing the appointment of David Reddaway as the new British ambassador, labeling him a Jewish spy.
Dalton, aged 53, a fluent Farsi speaker, became in 1999 the first British ambassador to Libya in 15 years after relations were severed when a British policewoman was killed by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy in London.
His appointment was confirmed by IRNA news agency, but not by the British Foreign Office, according to The Guardian. (Albawaba.com)
