List of diplomats from the United Kingdom to Iran
Encyclopedia
Below is a list of diplomats representing Britain in Iran. Although Britain
and Iran
(originally Persia) 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 developed trade links with the Persian kingdom. Initially, diplomatic missions comprised a legation
until they were promoted to embassy status in 1943.
, the Iranian Embassy siege
and handed representation to Sweden
as Protecting power
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(originally Persia) 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 developed trade links with the Persian kingdom. Initially, diplomatic missions comprised a legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
until they were promoted to embassy status in 1943.
Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary
- 1807-1810: Sir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st BaronetSir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st BaronetHarford Jones, later Sir Harford Jones Brydges, 1st Baronet, PC, DL , was a British diplomat and author.-Life:...
, envoy extraordinary. - 1810-1814: Sir Gore Ouseley, BtGore OuseleySir Gore Ouseley, 1st Baronet GCH , was a British entrepreneur, linguist and diplomat. He was born in 1770 and died at Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire in 1844...
, ambassador. - 1814: James Morier, Minister Plenipotentiary (ad interimAd interimThe Latin phrase ad interim literally means "in the time between" denotes the meaning of "in the meantime", "for an intervening time" or "temporarily" in the English language...
). - 1814-1815: Henry Ellis Minister Plenipotentiary (ad interim), in James Morier's absence.
- 1826: Colonel MacDonald, special mission from Government of India.
- 1824-1830: John Macdonald Kinneir
- 1830-1835: ?
- 1835-1836: Henry Ellis, ambassador.
- 1836-1838: John McNeillJohn McNeill (diplomat)Sir John McNeill, GCB, PC, FRSE, FRAS was a Scottish surgeon and diplomat.-Early life:McNeill was born at Oronsay House, Argyll...
. - 1838-1841: No representation due to the Siege of HeratSiege of HeratA siege of Herat refers to a protracted conflict against the city of Herat in Afghanistan, considered strategic in several military campaigns.These include:* Siege of Herat , part of the Islamic conquest of Sassanid Persia...
- 1841-1844: John McNeillJohn McNeill (diplomat)Sir John McNeill, GCB, PC, FRSE, FRAS was a Scottish surgeon and diplomat.-Early life:McNeill was born at Oronsay House, Argyll...
- 1844-1854: Justin Sheil.
- 1854-1855: Hon. Charles MurrayCharles Augustus MurraySir Charles Augustus Murray was a British author and diplomat.-Background:Murray was the second son of George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore, and his mother was the daughter of Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton...
- 1855-1857: No representation due to the Anglo-Persian WarAnglo-Persian WarThe Anglo-Persian War lasted between November 1, 1856 and April 4, 1857, and was fought between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Persia . In the war, the British opposed an attempt by Persia to reacquire the city of Herat...
- 1857-1859: Hon. Charles MurrayCharles Augustus MurraySir Charles Augustus Murray was a British author and diplomat.-Background:Murray was the second son of George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore, and his mother was the daughter of Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton...
- 1859-1860: Sir Henry Rawlinson
- 1860-?: Charles Alison
- 1872-1879: William Taylour Thomson
- 1879-c.1888: Ronald Ferguson Thomson
- 1888-1891: Sir Henry Drummond WolffHenry Drummond WolffSir Henry Drummond-Wolff GCB, GCMG, PC was an English diplomat and Conservative Party politician, who started as a clerk in the Foreign Office.-Background:Wolff was the son of Georgiana Mary and Joseph Wolff...
- 1891-1894: Sir Frank LascellesFrank LascellesSir Frank Cavendish Lascelles GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC was a British diplomat. He served as Ambassador to both Russia and Germany....
- 1894-1900: Sir Mortimer DurandMortimer DurandSir Henry Mortimer Durand was a British diplomat and civil servant of colonial British India.-Background:Born at Sehore, Bhopal, India, he was the son of Sir Henry Marion Durand, the Resident of Baroda and he was educated at Blackheath Proprietary School, and Tonbridge School.-Career:Durand...
- 1900-1905: Sir Arthur HardingeArthur Henry HardingeSir, ,Arthur Henry Hardinge , G.C.M.G.,1910, K.C.B.,1904, , a fluent speaker of the Spanish and the French languages, was the son of General Hon...
- 1906-1908: Sir Cecil Spring-RiceCecil Spring-RiceSir Cecil Arthur Spring-Rice GCMG GCVO , was a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1912 to 1918.-Early life:...
- 1908-1912: Sir George Barclay
- 1912-1916: Sir Walter Townley
- 1916-1918: Sir Charles Marling
- 1918-1920: Sir Percy CoxPercy Zachariah CoxMajor-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, GCMG, GCIE, KCSI was a British Indian Army officer and colonial administrator in the Middle East. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, he was one of the major figures in the creation of Iraq...
(ad interim) - 1920-1921: Herman Norman
- 1921-1926: Sir Percy Loraine, BtSir Percy Loraine, 12th BaronetSir Percy Loraine, 12th Baronet, KCMG, PC was a British diplomat.Educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford, Loraine fought in the Second Boer War in Southern Africa. In 1904, he joined the foreign service. He first served in the Middle East, at the British missions in Istanbul and Tehran,...
- 1926-1931: Sir Robert CliveRobert Clive (diplomat)Sir Robert Henry Clive GCMG, PC , was a British diplomat.-Early life:Clive was the son of Charles Meysey Bolton Clive and the great-grandson of Edward Clive. His mother was Lady Katherine Elizabeth Mary Julia, daughter of William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh. He was educated at Haileybury College...
- 1931-1935: Sir Reginald HoareReginald HoareSir Reginald Hervey Hoare KCMG was a British diplomat and bank-Career:Born the son of Charles Hoare , Senior Partner of C. Hoare & Co, Reginald Hoare was educated at Eton College and joined the diplomatic service in 1905...
(:ru:Реджинальд Хоар) - 1935-1939: Sir Hughe Knatchbull-HugessenHughe Knatchbull-HugessenSir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen KCMG was a British diplomat, civil servant and author.-Background and education:...
- 1939-1942: Sir Horace SeymourHorace James SeymourSir Horace James Seymour GCMG CVO was a British diplomat, Ambassador to China from 1942 to 1946.-Early life and family:The elder son of Hugh Francis Seymour and the grandson of Col...
- 1942-1943: Sir Reader BullardReader BullardSir Reader William Bullard KCB KCMG CIE was a British diplomat and author.Reader Bullard was born in Walthamstow, the son of Charles, a dock labourer, and Mary Bullard...
Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- 1943-1946: Sir Reader BullardReader BullardSir Reader William Bullard KCB KCMG CIE was a British diplomat and author.Reader Bullard was born in Walthamstow, the son of Charles, a dock labourer, and Mary Bullard...
- 1946-1950: Sir John Le Rougetel
- 1950-1952: Sir Francis Shepherd
- 1952-1953: No representation due to the nationalisation of the Anglo-Persian Oil CompanyAnglo-Persian Oil CompanyThe Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
- 1952-1954: Sir Francis Shepherd
- 1954-1958: Sir Roger Stevens
- 1958-1963: Sir Geoffrey Harrison :ru:Джеффри Харрисон
- 1963-1971: Sir Denis Wright :ru:Денис Райт
- 1971-1974: Hon. Sir Peter RamsbothamPeter RamsbothamPeter Edward Ramsbotham, 3rd Viscount Soulbury, GCMG, GCVO, KStJ, DL was a British diplomat and colonial administrator....
- 1974-1979: Sir Anthony Parsons :ru:Энтони Парсонс
- 1979-1980: Sir John Graham :ru:Джон Грэм, 4-й баронет
Head of British Interests Section, Royal Swedish Embassy, Tehran
In 1980 Britain closed its embassy in Tehran after a brief occupation of the compound in the wake of the Iran hostage crisisIran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
, the Iranian Embassy siege
Iranian Embassy Siege
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...
and handed representation to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
as Protecting power
Protecting power
A protecting power is a state which somehow protects another state, and/or represents the interests of the protected state's citizens in a third state....
.
- 1980–1981: Stephen Jeremy Barrett
- 1981–1983: Nicholas John Barrington C.V.O.
- In May 1986 Britain refused to accept as Iranian Chargé d'affairesChargé d'affairesIn diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
in London Hussein Malouk, who took part in in the 1979 student takeover of the U.S. embassy, Iran blocked the appointment of Hugh James ArbuthnottHugh James ArbuthnottHugh James Arbuthnott, CMG. 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 , and Giles Sebastian....
as head of the British interests section in the swedish embassy in Tehran. - 1988: Paul Andrew Ramsay Senior Visa Officer British Interests Section, Tehran
- 1989–1990: No representation due to the fatwāFatwaA fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
issued against Salman Rushdie
Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- 1990–1993: David ReddawayDavid ReddawayDavid Norman Reddaway, CMG, MBE is the British ambassador to Turkey.-Biography:Before his appointment to Turkey in 2009, he was the British ambassador to Ireland....
, Chargé d'affairesChargé d'affairesIn diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were... - 1993–1997: Sir Jeffrey Russell James, K.B.E., C.M.G., Chargé d'affairesChargé d'affairesIn diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
- 1997–2002: Sir Nicholas Walker Browne, K.B.E., C.M.G.
- 2003–2006: Sir Richard DaltonRichard Dalton (diplomat)Sir Richard John Dalton is a senior former diplomat who was knighted in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Dalton retired from HM Diplomatic Service in 2006.-Diplomatic career:...
- 2006-2009: Sir Geoffrey AdamsGeoffrey AdamsSir Geoffrey Doyne Adams KCMG is a member of the British Diplomatic Service. He was Ambassador to Iran from April 1, 2006 until March 2009...
- 2009-2011: Sir Simon GassSimon GassSir Simon Lawrance Gass KCMG CVO is a British diplomat and the current NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.- As Ambassador in Iran:He was also British Ambassador to Iran...
- 2011- : Dominick John Chilcott