Protesters and 'students' attacked and looted the British Embassy in Tehran, throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and burning documents looted from the offices. They tore down and burnt the British flag and replaced it with the Iranian flag while parading the streets with th eRoyal Crest and a framed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
Another group of protesters broke into a second British Embassy compound at Qolhak in north Tehran. This compound is now used to house diplomatic staff, a library and a school. The protesters likewise damaged the buildings and took six embassy staff hostage who were later freed by police, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
This 'spontaneous' demonstration was in response to the clerical Council of Guardians approving a parliamentary bill submitted to them by the majlis to expel Britain's ambassador an downgrade diplomatic relations to a charge d'affairs in retaliation for the UK's participation in increased sanctions over Iran's rogue nuclear arms program.
The Iranian government claims that the incident was not planned by them, that they regretted the attacks and were committed to ensuring the safety of diplomats. Considering how well organized and timed the taking of the embassies were and that the Iranian police did absolutely nothing to stop it, it's fairly obvious that this was as 'unofficial' as the taking of the American embassy in 1979.
The Iranian police only forced the 'students' out of the embassies after they had been given plenty of time to loot and destroy them and things looked like they might be going a little further than the regime intended.
Al Jazeera's Iranian correspondant Dorsa Jabbari was fairly emphatic that that the police and the government had prior knowledge of the protest, which was organised by the student arm of the Basij militia, President Ahmadinejad's alma mater.
"Any such action of this could scale can never be independent in the Islamic Republic. These gatherings are always approved by higher officials," said Jabbari.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague issued the following statement:
“It amounts to a grave breach of the Vienna Convention which requires the protection of diplomats and diplomatic premises under all circumstances.
We hold the Iranian government responsible for its failure to take adequate measures to protect our embassy as it is required to do.
I spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister this afternoon to protest in the strongest terms about these events and to demand immediate steps to ensure the safety of our staff in both embassy compounds.
While he said he was sorry for what had happened and that action would be taken in response, this remains a very serious failure by the Iranian government.
The Iranians, of course, are quite aware that after the gutting of the Royal Navy and its other military forces after a long period of Labour rule, Britain has little capacity to do much more than sputter and voice outrage. You have to wonder what a prime minister from Britain's former days like Benjamin Disraeli or Robert Gascoyne-Cecil transported into today's times would have to say about the spectacle of the British Lion being forced to acquiesce to this sorry situation out of sheer weakness and impotence.
Iran has been a rogue nation that ignores the rules most civilized countries abide by since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and thus far they've gotten away with it. The end result of this appeasement will not be pleasant.
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