Tehran firebomb attack on British embassy
Demonstrators today threw rocks, rotten fruit and two Molotov cocktails at the British embassy in Tehran, diplomatic sources said.
The petrol bombs exploded in the road in front of the embassy, while windows were broken by stones thrown by the protesters.
Nobody was injured and although the embassy closed its visa section to the public as a precaution, staff were otherwise working normally, said the sources.
The trouble began after an officially sanctioned protest in the Iranian capital against coalition actions in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala broke up, with some protesters heading for the British embassy.
They were kept on the opposite side of a four-lane highway by Iranian security forces where they began an unauthorised protest.
They threw rotten tomatoes, rocks and the two Molotov cocktails.
“The odd window has been broken but there was no serious damage and no casualties,” said the diplomatic sources.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Foreign Office takes the security of the British embassy in Tehran very seriously and is in constant dialogue with the Iranian authorities on security issues.”
A fire bomb was thrown at the embassy gates in November and there have been other protests aimed at the embassy.
Britain has pursued a process of “constructive dialogue” with the Tehran government and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw visited there in October with his French and German counterparts, when Iran promised to co-operate with international authorities on its nuclear programme.
