(VOVworld) - Iran and Britain on Monday appointed new ambassadors to each other’s countries for the first time since 2011, in another sign of warming bilateral relations.

Security forces stand guard outside the British embassy in Tehran. (Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP)

The ISNA state news agency reported the Islamic Republic of Iran had named Hamid Baeidinejad, director general for political and international security affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry, as its new ambassador to Britain.

Baeidinejad, 53, had also been a senior member of the Iranian negotiating team with the P5+1 group of countries which led to striking a historical nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on July 14, 2015.

Britain appointed Nicholas Hopton as its new British ambassador to Tehran. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the upgrade in diplomatic relations offered an opportunity for both nations to discuss a range of issues including consular cases about which Iran is deeply concerned.

He said he hoped this would mark the start of more productive cooperation between the two countries, enabling both sides to discuss more directly issues such as human rights and Iran's role in the region.

Britain shut down its embassy in Tehran in November 2011 and withdrew its diplomatic staff after hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest outside the British embassy in Tehran against the expansion of UK sanctions against the country, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British ambassador.