UK Foreign Secretary travels to Israel, will reopen Tehran embassy

Before heading for Tel Avi Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the historic nuclear deal signed with Iran paved the way for a new relationship, and the UK embassy, closed in 2011 after being ransacked by a Tehran mob, would reopen by the end of the year. He reproved Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for his angry comments on the deal, including the charge that the world powers had “gambled with Israel’s future.” Hammond countered by accusing Israel of not wanting any deal with Iran. “Israel wants a permanent state of stand-off and I don’t believe that’s in the interests of the region. I don’t believe it’s in our interest,” he said.