Anti-UK protesters storm UK embassy in Tehran

The invasion happened during a rally to protest against sanctions imposed by Britain, according to Iranian television.

Protesters threw petrol bombs and one waved a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth apparently found inside the compound, state TV showed.

The semi-official Mehr news agency said protesters pulled down the British flag, burned it, and put up the Iranian flag. Agency reports from Tehran say police fired teargas to disperse a crowd outside the embassy compound.

The incident followed Britain‘s decision last week to impose sanctions on the Islamic state over its nuclear programme.

Professor Anoush Ehteshami from the University of Durham told Channel 4 News the protest could be a tactic that the Iranian government has used before.

He said: “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of thing happen in Iran. They’ve used the same tactic to put political pressure on the neighbouring countries, such as the Saudis and Bahrain.

“It serves the domestic audience more than anything as it shows the country is mobilised and the leadership are in tune with popular sentiments. It shows the public is angry and they are taking action against Britain but in a way the government can control.

“It of course also provides a neat narrative for the regime and good pictures for television at home and beamed across the world.”

Not all ordinary members of the public

And he said the protesters were unlikely to all be ordinary members of the public.

“The protesters are usually Basijis, a rent-a-mob, who have been used to break up for example student demonstrations and they will come out en masse.

“Amongst them though there will be individuals who are genuinely aggrieved about Britain’s behaviour.”

Statement from the Iranian Embassy
On Tuesday, hundreds of Iranian students from different universities entered the compound of the British embassy in Tehran and pulled down Britain’s flag.

However, police prevented them from entering the embassy itself. In a statement released later on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the unacceptable actions of a few protesters despite the efforts of Iranian security forces to stop them. According to the statement, relevant officials have been asked to immediately conduct necessary investigations with regards to this issue.

Stressing the Islamic Republic’s respect for international law and the immunity of diplomatic buildings, Iran’s Foreign Ministry also reiterated the Iranian government’s commitment to protect the diplomatic missions. Police say the situation is under control, and security forces are trying to remove students who have entered the British embassy compound. Police say they are protecting the embassy building and the documents inside, dispersing the large crowds gathered outside the embassy compound.

In northern Tehran, police entered a second British diplomatic compound to bring the security situation there under control. Police say all foreign nationals in the compound are under protection of security forces.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said: “There has been an incursion by a significant number of demonstrators into our embassy premises, including vandalism to our property.

“This is a fluid situation and details are still emerging. We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it.”

Later Foreign Secretary William Hague added: “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 and of both embassy compounds.

“We have made clear to the Iranian government that they must take immediate steps to ensure the safety of UK personnel; to ensure that property taken from the embassy compounds is returned; and to secure the compounds with immediate effect.

We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it. Foreign Office

“Clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. I will make a statement updating Parliament on this tomorrow.”

Iran MP’s warning

The UK government has banned all British financial institutions from doing business with their Iranian counterparts, including the Central Bank of Iran, as part of a new wave of sanctions by western countries.

Iran’s Guardian Council approved a bill on Monday to downgrade Iran’s ties with Britain, one day after the Iranian parliament approved the measure, compelling the government to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for the sanctions.

But Prof Ehteshami told Channel 4 News pressure has been building for some time and it is not just linked to the row over nuclear development.

He said: “It is also linked to an ongoing decade-long row with Britain over a site in northern Tehran, Qolhak, which used to be used by the British Council.

“The Iranian government had asked Britain to renovate the site and return it to the Iranian state. But Britain has renovated it and is refusing to return the property and associated land by saying that the land was given to Britain in a bequest and it should not have to give it up.”

In parliament in Tehran on Sunday, an MP warned that Iranians angered by the sanctions could storm the British embassy as they did to the US mission in 1979.