THE GUARDIAN: Foreign secretary says Tehran breached Vienna convention in failing to protect diplomatic mission
William Hague has warned Iran it faces "serious consequences" over the attack on the British embassy in Tehran.
Hundreds of protesters surged onto two compounds this afternoon, putting the safety of staff at risk and causing "extensive damage" to property, the foreign secretary said.
"Clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. I will make a statement updating parliament on this tomorrow [Wednesday]."
Iranian police protected Britain's ambassador and some staff earlier from a large crowd outside, Hague said.
He added: "There has been a confusing situation at times as to the whereabouts of certain staff. I wouldn't use the term hostage. Clearly there have been situations where the Iranian police have intervened to try to ensure the safety of our staff.
"We are grateful for that but this situation should never have been allowed to arise in the first place." » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan and agencies | Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Related »
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British relations with Iran sink to lowest in decades as Tehran embassies are stormed: Britain’s relations with Iran were plunged into their worst crisis in decades after protesters [stormed] two British embassy compounds in Tehran, ransacked offices and forced diplomatic staff to seek refuge in secure rooms. ¶ The most extraordinary scenes came at Britain’s embassy near Tehran’s central bazaar, where riot police simply stood by as demonstrators broke into the main building and tore down pictures of The Queen, looted sensitive documents, smashed windows and even threw petrol bombs. ¶ Chanting “death to England”, the protesters - many of them organised by a student branch of the pro-regime Basiji militia - burned the British flag and set a car on fire in protest at sanctions imposed last week on the Iranian banking system. ¶ Diplomats were forced to seek refuge in a secure room behind reinforced doors and windows, from where they managed to use secure communications to alert London. According to one report, six embassy staff had to be rescued by police after being held hostage by the protesters for several hours. » | Damien McElroy, Amad Vahdat | Tuesday, November 29, 2011
