Britain and Iran see 'eye to eye' on Isis, says foreign secretary Philip Hammond

The UK has reopened its embassy in Tehran

The UK embassy is set to open for the first time since it was attacked by a mob in 2011 (PA)

Britain and Iran see “eye to eye” in the battle against the Isis militant group, the UK’s foreign secretary has said.

Philip Hammond made the statement the day after the reopening of the British embassy in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

“We do see eye to eye on the need to challenge Isil, for example, and there are areas where we can work together,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“As we work more closely together in those areas, we will find it easier to have a sensible dialogue about the many areas which we disagree including human rights in Iran.”

Mr Hammond said Britain had to “tread carefully” with the Islamic Republic and that there were still major areas where the two countries did not agree.

The so-called Islamic State militant group controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and his hostile to Iran.

Iran is providing military advisors to the Iraqi government and weapons to Iraqi Kurds and other militias who are fighting Isis.

There are some reports that Iranian combat troops are fighting in Iraq, though Iran denies these rumours.

The British embassy had been closed since an attack by protesters on the UK diplomatic compound in 2011.

A deal between the Western powers and Iran over the country’s nuclear programme has seen a thawing of relations in recent months.

US president Barack Obama said in April that he was “confident that we can show that this deal is good for the security of the United States, for our allies and for the world”.