The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Iran is the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's foremost

diplomatic representative Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

in the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and in charge of the UK's

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

in Iran. The official title is ''His Majesty's Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran''. Although

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(originally

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

) did not enter into formal diplomatic relations until 1807, British and Iranians had been in informal contact since the early 17th century when the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

developed trade links with the Persian kingdom. Initially, diplomatic missions comprised a

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

until they were promoted to

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

status in 1943. At various times in history during crises or disputes, Britain has had no diplomatic presence in the country, and has either relied on other nations as protecting powers, or has had a non-resident diplomat.

Heads of Mission

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary (1807–1944)

*1807–1811:

Sir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st Baronet Sir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st Baronet, DL (12 January 1764 – 17 March 1847), born Harford Jones, was a British diplomat and author. Life Born on 12 January 1764, Sir Harford Jones-Brydges was the son of Harford Jones of Presteign, Rad ...

, envoy extraordinaryJ. Haydn, Book of Dignities (1851), 86.British Diplomatic Representatives in Iran 1800-1950
British Library. Accessed 3 February 2015. *1810–1814: Sir Gore Ouseley, Bt, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary *April 1814–October 1815:

James Morier James Justinian Morier (15 August 1782 – 19 March 1849) was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the Qajar dynasty in Iran, most famously for the ''Hajji Baba'' series. These were filmed in 1954. Early life Morier was bor ...

, Minister Plenipotentiary (ad interim) *13 April 1814: Sir

Henry Ellis Henry Ellis may refer to: * Henry Augustus Ellis (1861–1939), Irish Australian physician and federalist * Henry Ellis (diplomat) (1788–1855), British diplomat * Henry Ellis (governor) (1721–1806), explorer, author, and second colonial Gover ...

, Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary (ad interim), in James Morier's absence *1815–22, 1823–26:

Henry Willock Sir Henry Willock (17901858) was a lieutenant-colonel and the British Envoy to Persia from 1815-1826. He was the chairman of the East India Company (EIC) in 1844–45. Willock married Elizabeth Davis, daughter of EIC Director and orientalist Samue ...

, chargé d'affaires *1822–23: Major George Willock, deputy chargé d'affaires *29 July 1826: Colonel

John Macdonald Kinneir Sir John Macdonald Kinneir (3 February 1782 – 11 June 1830) was a Scottish army officer of the East India Company, diplomat and traveller. Life Born at Carnden, Linlithgow, on 3 February 1782, Kinneir was the son of John Macdonald, comptroller o ...

, Envoy Extraordinary from Government of India *4 December 1833: Sir John Campbell, appointed to negotiate a treaty *1835–1836: Sir

, ambassador *1836–1842: Sir John McNeill, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary **''No representation during the Siege of Herat'' *1844–1854: Lieutenant-Colonel Sir

Justin Sheil Major-General Sir Justin Sheil (2 December 1803 – 18 April 1871) was an Irish army officer and diplomat, the British envoy in Persia from 1844 to 1854. Life The son of Edward Sheil and Catherine McCarthy, and brother of Richard Lalor Sheil, he ...

, secretary of legation February 1836, Head of Mission 1839–44, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary 1844–54 *1847–49: Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Farrant, chargé d'affaires *1849, 1853–55: Sir

William Taylour Thomson Sir William Taylour Thomson (1813-1883) was a British military officer and diplomat. Military career He was a gifted military officer. When the British ship "Tigris" sank in the Euphrates river he was one of the survivors. In 1839 he partici ...

, chargé d'affaires *1854–1855: Sir

Charles Murray Charles Murray may refer to: Politicians *Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710), British peer *Charles Murray (author and diplomat) (1806–1895), British author and diplomat *Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907), Scotti ...

, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary *1855–1857: ''No representation due to the

Anglo-Persian War The Anglo-Persian War or the Anglo-Iranian War () lasted between 1 November 1856 and 4 April 1857, and was fought between the United Kingdom and Iran, which was ruled by the Qajar dynasty. The war had the British oppose an attempt by Iran to pre ...

'' *1857–1858: Sir

, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary *1858–59: William Doria, chargé d'affaires *1859–1860: Lieutenant-Colonel

Sir Henry Rawlinson Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army officer, politician and Orientalist, sometimes described as the Father of Assyriology. His son, also Henry, was to beco ...

, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary *November–December 1859: Sir Ronald Thomson, chargé d'affaires *1860–1872:

Charles Alison Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary April 1872 **May–July 1860: Captain (later Colonel Sir)

Lewis Pelly Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Pelly, (14 November 1825 – 22 April 1892) was a British East India Company officer, and then an imperial army and political officer. At the end of his life, he was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Hackney ...

, chargé d'affaires **November–December 1862: Sir Ronald Thomson, chargé d'affaires **December 1862–January 1863:

Edward Eastwick Edward Backhouse Eastwick CB (181416 July 1883, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was an English orientalist, diplomat and Conservative Member of Parliament. He wrote and edited a number of books on South Asian countries. These included a Sindhi vocabular ...

, chargé d'affaires **1863, 1869–70: Sir Ronald Thomson, chargé d'affaires **April–May 1872: William Dickson, chargé d'affaires **1872–73: Sir Ronald Thomson, chargé d'affaires *1872–1879: Sir

, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary **1878–79: Sir Ronald Thomson, chargé d'affaires *1879–1887: Sir

Ronald Ferguson Thomson Sir Ronald Ferguson Thomson (26 June 1830 – 15 November 1888) was a British diplomat. Thomson spent his entire professional life working for the British Foreign Office in Tehran. He was appointed Secretary of Legation (third class) on 7 Sep ...

, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary **1885–86: Sir Arthur Nicolson, chargé d'affaires *1887–1891:

Sir Henry Drummond Wolff Sir Henry Drummond Charles Wolff (12 October 1830 – 11 October 1908), known as Henry Drummond Wolff, was an English diplomat and Conservative Party politician, who started as a clerk in the Foreign Office. Background Wolff was born in Malt ...

**1889, November 1890, November 1891: Robert John Kennedy, chargé d'affaires *1891–1894: Sir Frank Lascelles *1894: Sir

Conyngham Greene Sir William Conyngham Greene, (29 October 1854 – 30 June 1934) was a British diplomat who served as minister to Switzerland, Romania and Denmark, and as ambassador to Japan. Early life William Conyngham Greene was born in Dublin, Ireland, ...

, chargé d'affaires *1894–1900:

Sir Mortimer Durand Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, (14 February 1850 – 8 June 1924) was a British Anglo-Indian diplomat and member of the Indian Civil Service. Background Born at Sehore, Bhopal, India, he was the son of Sir Henry Marion Durand, the Resident of Ba ...

**1897–98: Lord Hardinge, chargé d'affaires **March 1900–1901: Sir Cecil Spring Rice, chargé d'affaires *October 1900–1906: Sir Arthur Hardinge (appointed Consul-General) **October–November 1902: William Erskine, chargé d'affaires **1904, 1905:

Evelyn Grant Duff Sir Evelyn Mountstuart Grant Duff (9 October 1863 – 19 September 1926) was a British diplomat who was stationed in Iran at a key moment, and was ambassador to Switzerland. He was the second son of M.E. Grant Duff (later Sir Mountstuart Grant D ...

, chargé d'affaires *1906–1908: Sir Cecil Spring Rice *1908–1912: Sir George Barclay *1912–1915: Sir Walter Townley *1915–1918: Sir Charles Marling *1918–1920: Sir Percy Cox ''(ad interim)'' *1920–1921: Herman Norman *1921–1926: Sir Percy Loraine, Bt *1926–1931: Sir Robert Clive *1931–1934: Sir Reginald Hoare *1934–1936: Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen *1936–1939: Sir Horace Seymour *1942–''1944'':

Sir Reader Bullard Sir Reader William Bullard (5 December 1885 – 24 May 1976) was a British diplomat and author. Education Reader Bullard was born in Walthamstow, the son of Charles, a dock labourer, and Mary Bullard. He was educated at the Monoux School the ...

Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1944–1980)

*1944–1946:

*1946–1950: Sir John Le Rougetel *1950–1952: Sir Francis Shepherd *1952–1953: ''No representation due to the nationalisation of the

Anglo-Persian Oil Company The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number ...

'' *1954–1958: Sir Roger Stevens *1958–1963: Sir Geoffrey Harrison *1963–1971: Sir Denis Wright *1971–1974: Hon. Sir Peter Ramsbotham *1974–1979:

Sir Anthony Parsons Sir Anthony Derrick Parsons (9 September 1922 – 12 August 1996) was a British diplomat, ambassador to Iran at the time of the Iranian Revolution and Permanent Representative to the UN at the time of the Falklands War. Career Anthony Par ...

*1979–1980: Sir John Graham

Head of British Interests Section, Royal Swedish Embassy, Tehran (1980–1990)

In 1980 Britain closed its embassy in Tehran after a brief occupation of the compound in the wake of the

Iran hostage crisis On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over t ...

, the Iranian Embassy siege and was subsequently represented in the country by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

as a

protecting power A protecting power is a country that represents another sovereign state in a country where it lacks its own diplomatic representation. It is common for protecting powers to be appointed when two countries break off diplomatic relations with e ...

. Nonetheless, a small detachment of British personnel maintained a presence at the Swedish Embassy. *1980–1981:

Stephen Barrett Stephen Joel Barrett (; born 1933) is an American retired psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health frau ...

*1981–1983: Nicholas John Barrington C.V.O. * *1982-1988: Michael Simpson-Orlebar followed by Christopher Macrae. In May 1986 Iran blocked the appointment of

Hugh James Arbuthnott Hugh James Arbuthnott, CMG (born 27 December 1936) is a retired British diplomat. Son of James Gordon Arbuthnott and Margaret Georgiana, née Hyde. Married to Vanessa Rose Dyer, has three sons, Dominic Hugh, Justin Edward James (died 1989), and ...

as head of the British Interests Section in the Swedish embassy in Tehran. This was in retaliation for Britain refusing to accept Hussein Malouk as Iranian

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

in London, due to his participation in the 1979 student takeover of the U.S. embassy, *1988: Paul Andrew Ramsay Senior Visa Officer British Interests Section, Tehran *1989–1990: ''No representation due to the

fatwā A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

issued against

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1990–present)

*1990–1993:

David Reddaway Sir David Norman Reddaway (born 26 April 1953) is Chief Executive and Clerk of the Goldsmiths' Company in the City of London. He is a retired British diplomat who was High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Ireland and Turkey. Career Re ...

, ''Chargé d'affaires'' *1993–1997: Sir Jeffrey Russell James, ''Chargé d'affaires'' *1997–2002: Sir

Nicholas Browne Sir Nicholas Walker Browne, KBE, CMG (17 December 1947 – 14 January 2014) was a British diplomat. He served as Ambassador to Iran from 1999 to 2002 and Ambassador to Denmark from 2003 to 2006. Early life Browne was born on 17 December 19 ...

*2003–2006:

Sir Richard Dalton Sir Richard John Dalton (born 10 October 1948) was a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service until he retired in 2006. His assignments included British Ambassador to Libya and Iran. He is currently an Associate Fellow at Chatham House's ...

*2006–2009: Sir

Geoffrey Adams Sir Geoffrey Doyne Adams (born 11 June 1957) served as the British Ambassador to Egypt from 2018 to 2021, as a member of the British Diplomatic Service. He was Ambassador to the Netherlands from 2013 to 2017. Biography Adams was educated at ...

*2009–2011: Sir

Simon Gass Sir Simon Lawrance Gass (born 2 November 1956) is a British civil servant. Since 2019, he has chaired the Joint Intelligence Committee (United Kingdom), Joint Intelligence Committee and he also currently serves as the British Prime Minister's ...

*2011–2011:

Dominick Chilcott Sir Dominick John Chilcott (born 17 November 1959) is a British diplomat who is Ambassador to Turkey. Early life He went to the Catholic independent school, St Joseph's College, Ipswich, later also attended by his brother Martin. He atten ...

The

British Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Com ...

in Tehran was closed following an attack on the Embassy on 29 November 2011. Sweden represented British interests in Iran through a British interests section at the Swedish Embassy in Tehran. On 11 November 2013 the UK government appointed a non-resident chargé d'affaires to Iran. *2013–2015: Ajay Sharma ''(non-resident Chargé d'affaires)'' On 23 August 2015 the UK embassy in Tehran was reopened and the Chargé d'affaires moved to be resident there. The Chargé d'affaires was made Ambassador in September 2016. *August–November 2015: Ajay Sharma ''(chargé d'affaires)'' *December 2015–March 2018:

Nicholas Hopton Nicholas Dunster Hopton (born 8 October 1965) is a British diplomat who was the head of the UK embassy in Libya. Hopton was educated at St Peter's School, York and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1 ...

(as ''Chargé d'affaires'' until September 2016; then as ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary'') *April 2018–August 2021:

Robert Macaire Robert Macaire is a fictional character, an unscrupulous swindler, who appears in a number of French plays, films, and other works of art. In French culture he represents an archetypal villain. He was principally the creation of an actor, Frédér ...

*August 2021–present:

Simon Shercliff Simon Shercliff (born 23 December 1972) is a British diplomat, and Ambassador to Iran. Education and career Shercliff was educated at Wells Cathedral School. He graduated from St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1995, with a degree in Earth Sc ...

References

External links

UK and Iran
gov.uk {{Iran–United Kingdom relations