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NOVEMBER 29, 2011

Iranian Students Storm British Embassy in Tehran

By FARNAZ FASSIHI and ALISTAIR MACDONALD

Student protesters loyal to the government stormed the British Embassy in Tehran and its residential compound on Tuesday, in the most serious security breach of a diplomatic site there since the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979.

Live television footage from Iran's state broadcaster showed angry mobs climbing on a wall of the British Embassy building in downtown Tehran and two young men attempting to break the lock on the iron gate of the compound. They took down the Union Jack flag and raised Iran's, Iranian news media reported, and took hostages, who were later released.

The attack comes after the U.K. last week announced it would join the U.S. and Canada in coordinated sanctions against Iranian banks in a bid to cut off financing of its nuclear program. The U.K. has been one of the most vocal critics of Iran's nuclear program and its alleged sponsoring of regional terrorism.

A U.K. Foreign Office official confirmed there had been an incursion by a significant number of demonstrators into the embassy premises, and that property had been vandalized.

A person familiar with the matter said a fire was started in the embassy and its residential compound was also stormed in northern Tehran.

"We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it," the official said.

Foreign Secretary William Hague was forced to leave Parliament during the government's budget statement, one of the key events in the parliamentary calendar, when he found out the attack had happened.

Senior U.K. officials said they urged "the Iranian authorities to act with utmost urgency" to protect Britain's diplomatic compound, the Foreign Office said. Prime Minister David Cameron is being kept informed of events, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

The U.K. also advised all its citizens in Iran to stay indoors and keep a low profile.

By late evening, security forces and antiriot police had secured the area around the embassy and cleared the embassy premises of protesters. Iranian media reported that clashes broke out between protesters and the police when students entered the embassy for a third time and police used tear gas to disperse them. Official Iran media reported that several protesters were arrested.

Iran's foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the actions and saying it was unfortunate that peaceful protests outside the embassy got out of control and urged security forces to take charge of the situation. The statement said Iran's foreign ministry respects international obligations to protect embassies and diplomats.

Several conservative lawmakers, however, praised the student's actions and said it was a response to Britain's long history of meddling in Iran's affairs.

Iran's parliament voted on Sunday to downgrade its diplomatic relations with Britain to the level of a diplomatic attaché and evict the British ambassador from Tehran. On Tuesday, the parliament's decision was announced officially to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who must now order the foreign ministry to take action.

The protesters belonged to the student chapter of plainclothes militia Basij, the volunteer task force most loyal to the Islamic Republic. A statement from the students posted on the conservative semiofficial Fars News Agency said they had acted independently.

"The takeover of the British Embassy has happened 32 years too late, we should have done this a long time ago. Any Iranian who loves his country should know today's action is in Iran's best interest," the statement said.

Television footage showed a large number of antiriot police present outside the embassy attempting to break up the crowd but mostly the security forced stood to the side and watched the students. Fars News reported that six foreign staffers at the embassy were briefly taken hostage by students in the residential compound and later freed by police.

The U.K. and Iran have a long history of mutual antagonism that stretches back to Britain's days as a colonial power in the Middle East. More recently, the U.K. has backed the U.S.'s aggressive stance on Iran, earning itself the nickname "little Satan" to the U.S.'s "big Satan," among Iranian officials.

Senior British officials fear that a nuclear Iran would trigger a nuclear-arms race in the Arab world as Saudi Arabia and even Egypt seek to catch up. Like the U.S., Britain has never ruled out backing military action against Iran in a bid to stop its nuclear program.

Write to Farnaz Fassihi at farnaz.fassihi@wsj.com and Alistair MacDonald at alistair.macdonald@wsj.com