Former British foreign minister Jack Straw was leading a delegation of lawmakers to Iran on Monday, his office said, as London and Tehran sought to improve diplomatic relations.
The visit by opposition Labour party MP Straw comes two months after Britain and Iran named non-resident envoys, restoring ties which were severed in 2011 after Iranian protesters stormed and ransacked the British embassy in Tehran.
Straw, 67, was Foreign Secretary under Prime Minister Tony Blair as Britain went to war in Iraq in 2003. He has repeatedly called for engagement with Iran to end the crisis over its nuclear program.
Straw will be accompanied by Conservative former finance minister Norman Lamont, Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and Conservative lawmaker Ben Wallace, his office said in a statement.
They travelled to Tehran on Monday and were due to return to Britain on Friday.
The British MPs, who are all members of a cross-party British parliamentary group on Iran, had accepted an invitation from the British/Iran Friendship Group of the Iranian parliament, Straw's office said.
"It is hoped that whilst in Tehran the group will be able to make arrangements for a return delegation from the Majlis [Iranian parliament] to visit the UK," the statement said.
Britain's Foreign Office had been "very helpful in facilitating the visit," it added.
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