In his letter, the Prime Minister made clear that he hopes the election of Dr Rouhani presents an opportunity for Iran to take a different course for the future and to improve the UK’s bilateral relationship with Iran on a step-by-step and reciprocal basis, saying:
On the occasion of your inauguration, I wanted to write to express the hope that your election will present an opportunity to improve relations between our countries.
Improving bilateral relations will be a gradual process and several issues will need to be addressed.
The Prime Minister also called for Iran to engage constructively and seriously with the international community on its nuclear programme and to support a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Syria.