Hopeful signs for a diplomatic “abacaxi”

One of the first slang expressions I learnt in Portuguese was abacaxi (pineapple in English) used to describe a difficult issue. Iran’s relations with the international community could be described as an abacaxi. But  are we at a moment of change in those relations with the arrival of President Rouhani?

Since 2005, I have been  discussing Iran with the countries I have been based in. I have covered both Iran’s nuclear programme and also it’s appalling human rights record. In Brazil, we have not always agreed on how the international community should work with Iran on these issues. But both our countries have continued to share concerns about them.

On human rights in Iran, despite the welcome the release in September of some prominent political prisoners, including lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, we remain deeply concerned. We are yet to see any institutional change. Iran continues to have the highest execution rate per capita in the world.

Over 240 executions have been officially announced in 2013, unofficial numbers indicate over 400. At least 35 people were executed in one week in August alone.

Our relations with Iran hit a low point with the attack by a mob on the British Embassy there in November 2011. We closed our Embassy as a result. Since then the Swedish Embassy in Tehran has represented British interests in Iran. This was not a complete break in diplomatic relations. British and Iranian officials still met in multilateral forums.

What has changed now? It is clear that the new President and Ministers in Iran are presenting themselves and their country in a much more positive way than in the past. On the nuclear issue, Iran has said it wants to see rapid progress and talks  start again next week in Geneva. We also hope to improve the UK-Iranian bilateral relationship.

William Hague, British Foreign Secretary, announced this week that we are starting a step by step process on the way towards eventual re-opening of embassies in London and Tehran.  Hopeful signs. There is a lot of work still to be done though but maybe we have started to descascar o abacaxi (peal the pineapple)!