Iran: British Embassy in Tehran Attacked

On 29 November, 2011, a crowd of about 1,000 people demonstrated near the British embassy in Tehran after Britain cut all financial ties with Iran over concerns about its nuclear program. The gathering was peaceful, before some participants stormed the building.

This incident has reminded many observers of the 1979 attack on the United States embassy in Tehran. A few days earlier, Iran's parliament voted to expel the British ambassador since relations had deteriorated.

Here is a video from the demonstration:

Iranian blogger, Xcalibur, advises people not to follow the official line by calling the attackers “students”. The blogger says [fa]:

it is not right to call these wild people, students.

Another blogger, Snotes, said [fa] it was Basij paramilitary students attacked the embassy, seized documents from “the old Fox”, and burne the British flag.

Rahayi Iran says [fa] it was terrorists who attacked the British embassy.

Hamedemofidi blogs:

A high-ranking revolutionary guard, Sajadi, entered the British embassy and such an act could be considered a war declaration, because the embassy is considered British soil. Such an act is in contradiction with Iran's constitution.

H-naderifar worries [fa] that:

Iran pays a high price for such actions. Attacking an embassy is attacking a country and insulting its national symbols.

Somayeh Tohidlou, an Iranian activist who received 50 whip lashes in Tehran in September 2011, wrote [fa] on Friendfeed:

Are they wrong about the date? This is 2011, not 1979 [when protesters took the US embassy in Tehran]. The regime is 32 years old, not 1 year old.

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