TEHRAN — Iran's state TV is reporting the country has appointed its non-resident diplomat as permanent top envoy to Britain. The Sunday report said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appointed Mohammad Hassan Habibollahzadeh as chargé d'affaires to London. The career diplomat has served as non-resident chargé d'affaires to Britain for the past two years. Habibollahzadeh has previously served in Russia and Switzerland and as Tehran's envoy to the International Maritime Organization. Iran and Britain reopened their embassies on August during a visit to Tehran by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. The move came nearly four years after hard-liners protestors in Tehran stormed the British embassy in November 2011. — AP
