A protest against the U.K.’s decision to ban all business relationships and transactions with Iranian banks led to demonstrators storming two British Embassy compounds in Tehran on Tuesday. Live footage shows protesters smashing doors and windows to the compounds, burning British flags and throwing petrol bombs inside the buildings. Iranian flags were raised in place of the British flags.
It is unclear if any embassy employees have been harmed. The Mehr news agency reported six British diplomats had been taken hostage, but the report was removed from their website just minutes after it was posted.
Britain’s Foreign Office condemned the situation, calling it “utterly unacceptable.” "There has been an incursion by a significant number of demonstrators into our Embassy premises, including vandalism to our property. We are outraged by this,” the office said.
The Foreign Office also reminded the Iranian government of international law that states it is their “clear duty to protect diplomats and Embassies in their country.”
The protests came a day after the Iranian Parliament voted to respond to the United Kingdom’s new sanctions by expelling the British ambassador from his post. The Guardian Council must approve the decision before it can be carried out.
The Foreign Office called the vote an “unwarranted move.” "If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners,” the office said.
The British first announced the sanctions last week, citing growing concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. Foreign Secretary William Hague said a new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency cast light on “the possible military dimensions” of the nuclear program. "The IAEA's report last week provided further credible and detailed evidence about the possible military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear program," Hague said in a statement Monday. "Today we have responded resolutely by introducing a set of new sanctions that prohibit all business with Iranian banks."
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