Iranian protesters attack British Embassy - San Francisco Chronicle

Tehran --

In scenes that evoked the seizing of the U.S. Embassy in 1979, hundreds of demonstrators stormed two British diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, hurling gasoline bombs, ransacking offices and tearing down the British flag.

The hours-long attacks, which followed a move by the Iranian parliament to expel Britain's ambassador over new sanctions, marked a sharp escalation in the tension between Iran and the West over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.

Britain promised "serious consequences" and summoned Iran's charges d'affaires in London to the Foreign Office. The incident also drew rebukes form the United States, France and the U.N. Security Council.

Iran's Foreign Ministry expressed regret for "the unacceptable behaviors" by some demonstrators and said it had requested an immediate investigation.

The protest was organized to mark the anniversary of the death of nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari in an attack Iran blamed on British and Israeli intelligence agencies.

A few hundred demonstrators gathered outside the British Embassy in downtown Tehran, chanting "Death to Britain" and demanding the immediate withdrawal of Ambassador Dominick Chilcott.

Some of the protesters climbed over the gates into the complex, where they tossed gasoline bombs and hoisted the Iranian flag in place of the British banner. They ripped down satellite dishes, tossed out papers and carried away a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

Other protesters forced their way into a British diplomatic compound in the north of the city, where they seized documents and staged a sit-in, according to a report by the semiofficial Fars news agency.

Iranian riot police appeared slow to respond, but regained control of both compounds within hours.

This article appeared on page A - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle