Britain eases warnings on travel to Iran

Britain's foreign office has relaxed its travel advice over Iran following the historic nuclear deal agreed earlier this month.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Saturday said that in certain areas of Iran, the risks had changed because of "decreasing hostility", The Guardian reported.

The decision follows the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and the P5+1 countries -- Britain, Russia, France, US, China and Germany -- and the European Union (EU) on July 14, over a comprehensive agreement based on Tehran's nuclear programme.

"Our policy is to recommend against travel to an area when we judge that the risk is unacceptably high," Hammond said.

"We consider that continues to be the case for specific areas of Iran, notably along Iran's borders with Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan."

"But we believe that in other areas of Iran, the risk to British nationals has changed, in part due to decreasing hostility under President Hassan Rouhani's government," he added.

Hammond told the House of Commons that he expects to reopen Britain's embassy in Tehran before the end of the year.

While relaxing its travel advice, the foreign office reiterated that people should carefully consider the risks of travelling to Iran.

Since the embassy is still closed, it said it could only offer limited consular support, although in urgent cases, British nationals can use the embassy of any other EU member state in Tehran.