Iranian protesters storm UK compounds

  • 13 years ago
What began as a rally outside of the British embassy in Tehran ended with Iranian protesters storming the compound to protest new sanctions posed by the UK.
It's one of two UK compounds stormed in Iranian capital on Tuesday.
The scenes broadcast on iranian Television showed protesters scaling an embassy gate. one man waved a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth.
Several of the group threw Molotov cocktails and stones and burned the British flag.
British Prime Minister David Cameron described the attacks "outrageous and indefensible" and called on the Islamic republic to prosecute those responsible.
In Washington, President Obama weighed in on the attack.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama saying:
"All of us I think are deeply disturbed by the crashing of the English embassy, the embassy of the United Kingdom in Iran. That kind of behavior is not acceptable and I strongly urge the Iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task. For rioters essentially to be able to overrun the embassy and set it on fire is an indication that the Iranian government is not taking its international obligations seriously and so obviously we are deeply concerned about that situation and we expect to see some sort of definitive action sometime very quickly."
While there were early conflicting reports about a possible hostage situation, the British government says all embassy personnel are safe and accounted for.
Deborah Gembara, Reuters.