Agence France Presse said Iranian police in riot gear stood by as dozens of rioters went over the wall and into the compound. After about a half hour, AFP said the police mounted the walls to stop more rioters from going over the top and entered the compound to clear those inside from the property.
Students who remained outside the walls chanted “Death to Britain.”
It wasn’t clear how many people were involved. Estimates of those gathered at the embassy ranged from several hundred to a few thousand. Most of them never tried to enter the embassy grounds.
Photographs showed at least two man running around with framed portraits of Queen Elizabeth they had presumably taken from inside the embassy.
The students removed the British flag from its pole, burnt it and replaced it with Iran’s flag. State TV showed youths smashing embassy windows. Papers were carried out of the embassy and thrown to the winds. An SUV parked inside the compound went up in flames.
It was unclear why the riot police made no effort to protect the main entrance to the compound and took no action to clear the grounds for about half an hour. There was speculation that Iranian officials wanted to have their cake and eat it too; by allowing rioters into the compound, they could take a swipe at the British lion, and, by clearing the compound later, they could claim to have fulfilled their legal duty to protect diplomats and embassies.
The police were slow to clear the embassy grounds and eventually fired tear gas to do so.
There was no word of any injuries to any embassy personnel. The embassy has long feared an attack and was understood to have drilled its staff in evacuation procedures. It is unknown what those procedures were, but there have been rumors for years that the embassy has a secret tunnel under the street so its people can evacuate to the adjoining Russian embassy compound to the north.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry publicly condemned the actions of a “small portion” of the protesters. It said nothing about the inaction of the police.
In addition to the attack on the embassy on Ferdowsi Street, protesters assaulted the Qolhak Garden in north Tehran where the ambassador and many UK diplomats live. Initial news reports said six diplomats were taken hostage there. But incomplete later news reports suggested the six diplomats had barricaded themselves in and were surrounded by protesters but never captured by them.
The double attack came two days after the Majlis voted to expel the British ambassador but to allow the embassy to continue operating under a charge d’affaires. The attack came two days before the EU’s foreign ministers were to assemble to discuss added EU sanctions on Iran.
Deputy Alaeddin Borujerdi, the chairman of the Majlis National Security Committee and the man who pushed the legislation to boot out the British ambassador, said the student protest was “the crystallization of their pure, inner feelings.” He said, “Britain has been hated by the Iranian people throughout history.”
In London, the Foreign Office said it was “outraged” by the actions.
It urged Iran to honor international commitments to protect diplomatic missions and their staff. Other countries, including the United States, swiftly condemned the Islamic Republic for failing to protect the diplomats as it is required to do under international law. The Security Council denounced the inaction by Iran. Russia said the embassy attack was “unacceptable and deserving condemnation.”
Tehran Police Chief Gen. Hossain Sajedi-nia said “a number” of those who entered the embassy grounds and Qolhak Garden had been arrested. He gave no specific number.
After a series of ups and downs in relations following the 1979 Iranian revolution, London and Tehran restored full diplomatic ties in 1988. But only months later, Iran broke off relations after Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatva calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie. Partial diplomatic relations were restored in 1990 and these were upgraded in 1999 to ambassadorial level.
In June 2009, Britain froze Iranian assets worth almost £1 billion under sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear program, and later Iran and Britain each expelled two diplomats. The same month, Iran accused Britain of involvement in the post-presidential election unrest in Iran. Relations have been testy, at best, since June 2009.
This month, Britain imposed new financial sanctions on Iran, a move that appears to have led directly to the Tuesday attack on the embassy.
Live coverage on state television showed Iranian riot police gradually clearing the protesters away from outside the embassy.
The UK Foreign Office said, “We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable. The Iranian government have a clear duty to protect diplomats and embassies in their country and we expect them to act urgently to bring the situation under control and ensure the safety of our staff and security of our property”.
Last week the US, UK and Canada announced new sanctions targeting Iran over its nuclear plans. That decision followed a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assembling evidence that Iran was working toward a nuclear weapon.