CRISIS IN THE PERSIAN GULF : Britain and Iran Restore Diplomatic Ties : Foreign relations: The two nations will reopen embassies in London and Tehran within one month.

Britain and Iran announced Thursday that they have resumed diplomatic relations, which were severed by Iran in March, 1989, in a dispute over a controversial novel.

The announcement was made by Douglas Hurd, the British foreign secretary, and Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran’s foreign minister. Both are in New York for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly.

“Effective today,” Hurd told reporters, “the United Kingdom and Iran have resumed diplomatic relations on the basis of mutual respect and will reopen their embassies in London and Tehran within one month.”

Hurd made no mention of the novel, Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses,” which the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini denounced as blasphemous. Khomeini called for the assassination of Rushdie, an Indian-born Briton, and when Britain refused to ban the book and condemn its author, the Iranian government broke off relations.

Hurd evaded reporters’ questions about Rushdie, who has spent the past 18 months in hiding.

“It is our understanding from public statements made by Iranian officials that the Iranian government respects the law and would not interfere in the internal affairs of any other country, any more than the United Kingdom would,” Hurd said.

This was interpreted as assurance that Rushdie is now safe from Iranian assassins.

Foreign Minister Velayati referred to the dispute only indirectly and refused to answer questions about Rushdie. He said that after relations between the two governments were severed, the Iranian Parliament forbade a resumption until Britain agreed to respect Iran’s position in the Rushdie case.

He said Hurd had written a letter pledging his government’s “respect for Islam and Islamic values” and that this had enabled Iran’s National Security Council to confirm that “all conditions have been met” for relations to be resumed.

A British diplomat, speaking on condition that he not be identified by name, said the British government continues to support Rushdie’s right to freedom of expression and to reject the Iranian death sentence for Rushdie.

“We believe it is better to discuss our differences in this case through normal diplomatic channels rather than elsewhere,” he said.

Hurd praised Iran for voting, in the U.N. Security Council, to support an embargo on trade with Iraq. He said there are other issues outstanding between London and Tehran and that they should be discussed at the diplomatic level. Specifically, he mentioned the British hostages held in Lebanon by Islamic followers of the Iranian revolutionaries.

The announcement raised mild hopes in London that there might now be some movement toward freeing the hostages, among them Terry Waite, an envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury who was abducted while trying to arrange the release of other hostages.

In Washington, the State Department said it would have no comment on the announcement. Spokesman Richard Boucher said, “That’s between them.”

Neither London nor Tehran acknowledged that it has made any concessions in agreeing to restore diplomatic relations, which both wanted.

The Iranians wanted ties with Britain as part of a broader effort to improve its relations with Western governments. The British saw in resumed relations not only a means of dealing with the hostage situation but also an improved position in a region changing as a result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait last month.