Azerbaijan, Baku, June 23 / Trend M. Moezzi /
Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi met with his British counterpart William Hague after the latter told a third country that he was ready to talk.
Ramin Mehmanparast, the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, made the comments in response to members of the Majlis (parliament) questioning why such a meeting took place, Mehr news agency reports.
Mehmanparast said while Iran and Britain had closed their embassies in each other's country, they hadn't severed relations. The two nations have to keep lines of communication open to discuss their interests and their citizens' consular rights, the spokesman said.
Salehi and Hague met together as they both attended a security conference in Afghanistan last week.
In November 2011, amid increasing tensions between London and Tehran, Iranians stormed the British Embassy compound, destroyed property and briefly detained six embassy staff members.
In response, Britain evacuated its diplomatic personnel, closed its embassy in Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats.
Before the embassy attack, Iran's Majlis voted to reduce diplomatic relations with Britain in response to sanctions levied against Tehran.