To mark the Iranian New Year, the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond sent a message to those celebrating Nowruz:

I would like to express my best wishes and congratulations to those celebrating Nowruz in Britain and around the world. Wherever you are celebrating the New Year, I wish you health and happiness for the future.

In Iran, I want to take the opportunity of this new year to say again that I firmly believe that constructive dialogue and improved co-operation between the UK and Iran is in all our interests.
I have met my Iranian counterparts a number of times in the last year as we seek a resolution to the nuclear question. Our diplomats are now regularly visiting each other’s countries after a gap of nearly two years, and we are working toward reopening our embassies.

We are working hard to reach agreement on a nuclear deal and over the coming year, we will continue our efforts to improve relations in ways that bring concrete benefits to both our peoples.

Nowruzetan piruz.

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