Iran protesters storm UK embassy in Tehran

Iranian protesters stormed two British Embassy compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, smashing windows, hurling petrol bombs and burning the British flag during a rally to protest against sanctions imposed by Britain, live Iranian television showed. Initial reports by semi-official Mehr news agency said six people working at the British embassy’s compound in northern Tehran had been taken hostage.

But the agency withdrew the report from its website minutes later with no explanation. The semi-official Mehr news agency initially said: ‘Students from universities in Tehran took hostage six people working for the British embassy in Qolhak garden,’ referring to the leafy compound.

The attacks followed the rapid approval by Iran’s Guardian Council of a parliamentary bill compelling the government to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for the sanctions, and warnings from a lawmaker that angry Iranians could storm the British embassy as they did to the US mission in 1979.