UK expels all Iranian diplomats after attack on British Embassy
- Hostages freed by police after a brief struggle with demonstrators at Britain’s other diplomatic facility several miles away
- 'We hold the Iranian government responsible,' says William Hague
- British Foreign Office 'outraged' by 'utterly unacceptable vandalism'
- White House condemns unrest in 'strongest possible terms'
- Demonstrators clash with riot police before ransacking building
- Students chant 'death to England' as they burn the Union Jack and tear up pictures of The Queen
- Attack comes two days after Iran approves bill to reduce diplomatic relations with Britain
Last updated at 3:44 PM on 30th November 2011
William Hague has demanded the immediate closure of the Iranian Embassy in London and ordered all its staff to leave the country in retaliation for an attack on the British Embassy in Tehran.
The Foreign Secretary has given the Iranian diplomats just 48 hours to get out the UK, he told the Commons today.
It comes after hardline protesters stormed the British Embassy in Iran yesterday and tried to take staff hostage. All British staff have been safely evacuated, Mr Hague said.
Retaliation: Foreign Secretary William Hague today told the Commons he had ordered the closure of the Iranian Embassy in London after the British Embassy in Iran was attacked yesterday. All British staff have been evacuated from the country
Security concerns: Police officers are deployed outside the Iranian Embassy in central London today after Hague expelled all its staff
A frenzied mob of militant Iranian students ransacked the main building and a smaller diplomatic compound in the city.
They lobbed petrol bombs, smashed windows, stole classified documents, torched the Union flag and even tore up a portrait of the Queen.
The rioters also chanted 'Death to England' and threw rocks. One man held up a Union flag with a skull and cross bones on it.
Today Mr Hague told parliament: 'The Iranian charge (d'affaires) in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours.'
Protesters break into the British Embassy and tear down the Union Jack. Some then proceeded to ransack offices 
Clashes: Students wearing some form of purple and green bandanna with Islamic writing on it push against riot police who had been protecting the embassy
A car goes up in flames as an Iranian protester fearing an explosion flees across the road inside the British Embassy
He added: 'We have now closed the British embassy in Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all our staff and as of the last few minutes, the last of our UK-based staff have now left Iran.'
Today the speaker of Iran’s parliament criticised the UN Security Council over its condemnation of the embassy in Tehran and said the resolution, passed unanimously on Wednesday, put global security at risk.
'The hasty move in the Security Council in condemning the students’ actions was done to cover up previous crimes of America and Britain while the police did all they could to keep the peace,' Ali Larijani told parliament in an address broadcast live on state radio.
'This devious action will lead to instability in global security,' he said.
Up in smoke: Protesters inside the British Embassy compound watch as an embassy car burns
Disrespect: An angry student tears a picture of the Queen, while right, another man in glasses and with a beard holds up-side-down a picture of Queen Elizabeth
A protester holds up a banner as his fellow Iranians wave flags and shout insults at Britain
Hundreds of students surge through the gates of the British embassy today as anti-English feelings reached boiling point
Breaking in: Dozens of protesters enter the gate of the embassy, throwing rocks, petrol bombs and burning documents looted from offices
The embassy came under siege despite being guarded by Iranian police and private security guards.
Mr Hague said the 'irresponsible action' put the safety of diplomats and their families at risk and caused extensive damage to embassy property.
He had spoken to his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, yesterday to 'protest in the strongest terms,' he said.
Today Mr Hague also announced that Iranian ambassadors had been summoned in countries across Europe to receive strong protests over the storming of the British embassy.
'If any country makes it impossible for us to operate on their soil they cannot expect to have a functioning embassy here,' Mr Hague said.
'This does not amount to the severing of diplomatic relations in their entirety. It is action that reduces our relations with Iran to the lowest level consistent with the maintenance of diplomatic relations,' he added.
Hague said it was 'fanciful' to think the Iranian authorities could not have protected the British embassy, or that the assault could have taken place without 'some degree of regime consent'.
He said European Union foreign ministers would discuss the embassy attack at a meeting in Brussels later today and tomorrow.
The EU ministers would discuss 'further action which needs to be taken in the light of Iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons programme', he said.
Britain and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons but Tehran insists its programme is purely for peaceful purposes.
Masked demonstrators hurl embassy papers into the crowd. Right, a student uses a metal bar to strike the British emblem
Students from some universities and seminaries burned British flags as they clashed with police, while others held flags proclaiming their hatred of Britain... while not leaving out the U.S. and Israel
Flash point: Iranian protesters burn the Union Jack outside the embassy in Tehran
Fury: A Union Jack flag is symbolically burned by a jeering crowd of Iranians
Dressing down: A protester kicks away the coat of arms from the embassy building
Shattered glass: Iranians have long been suspicious of the UK in large part due to Britain's long-held influence on its rulers and economy prior to the Islamic revolution
On the loose: Rampaging demonstrators use whatever they can find to smash up property
THE HATED SYMBOL OF THE WEST
America severed ties with Iran within months of the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979.
Iran also swiftly expelled Israeli diplomats, handing their embassy over to the PLO.That left Britain as the most hated Western power to have a functioning embassy in Iran. The British embassy was shut down three times in the turbulent decade that followed the Islamic revolution.
It re-opened fully in 1988. But a year later diplomatic ties were broken again over Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa against British author Salman Rushdie.
In the late 1990s Britain spent £1.3million renovating the embassy. The Rushdie affair had been resolved and London hoped for better relations with Iran.
But that hope dimmed when moderate president Mohammad Khatami was succeeded by the anti-Western Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
One of those who took part in the attacks said they were driven by their 'hatred' of Britain. Others denounced the embassy as a 'den of spies'.
Yesterday a furious David Cameron denounced the attack as 'outrageous and indefensible'.
'The failure of the Iranian government to defend British staff and property was a disgrace,' Mr Cameron said.
'We hold the Iranian government responsible for its unacceptable failure to protect diplomats in line with international law.
'The Iranian government must immediately ensure the continued safety of our staff, return all property and secure the compound immediately.
'Those responsible for this criminal attack must be prosecuted. The Iranian Government must recognise that there will be serious consequences for failing to protect our staff.'
Whitehall sources said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime would be hit with 'robust and resolute' sanctions as early as today when ministers update the Commons.
The United Nations, U.S., France and Russia all joined in condemnation of the incident.
Last night Mr Hague said all embassy staff and their families were safe.
He played down reports that staff had been held hostage, saying the situation had been 'confusing'.
But insiders said that at one point employees were holed up in a compound surrounded by several hundred marauding rioters.
Mr Cameron chaired a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee and the Iranian charge d'affaires to London was summoned to the Foreign Office to be rebuked.
Iran said it 'regretted' the attacks on the British Embassy and the Gulhak Garden diplomatic compound several miles away in northern Tehran.
Iranian riot police stand guard as protesters gather outside the British Embassy in Tehran. A handful of demonstrators managed to break their rank
An Iranian Basij militia member throws stones towards the embassy building as riot police look on
A HARD-LINE RIOT: NOT THE FIRST TIME THE BRITISH EMBASSY HAS COME UNDER ATTACK
The British embassy in Tehran is an oasis of green tranquillity in the dusty centre of the teeming Iranian capital.
But when hard-line students threw stones at the symbol of British power, it was far from the first time the building had come under attack.
In November 1978 - a turbulent year before the Islamic Revolution - the embassy was ransacked by a crowd angry at Britain's support for the Shah of Iran.
The mob forced open the high gates, despite the gallant efforts of a lone junior diplomat to keep them out, then set fire to the Chancery building, but no one was hurt.
The embassy was shut down three times in the decade that followed the Shah's overthrow in 1979, re-opening in 1988.
A year later diplomatic ties were broken off again over the fatwah on Salman Rushdie, finally being restored at ambassador level in 1998.
In the early 1980s a narrow street flanking the embassy was renamed after the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, although a new street sign now misspells it as Babi Sandz street. Taxi drivers, however, still refer to it by its old name - Churchill Street.
But Whitehall officials said the protesters could not have acted without the approval of President Ahmadinejad's repressive regime.
A senior source said: 'Things like this don't happen in Tehran without part of the Iranian state giving authority or permission. If they had wanted to put a stop to it, they would have.'
The attack was the most serious assault on foreign diplomatic missions in Iran since the seizing of the U.S. Embassy compound in 1979 when 52 Americans were held captive for 444 days.
The demonstrations were reported to have been staged by a new pro-regime group called The Muslim Students Followers of the Supreme Leader. They were protesting against tough new financial sanctions imposed by London last week over Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran retaliated on Monday by passing a law to expel the British ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, who took up his post only last month.
Some 15 British nationals are stationed at the embassy. They had been confident the protest would pass peacefully because scores of Iranian anti-riot police were deployed outside. But security forces stood idly by when protesters, chanting 'The Embassy of Britain should be taken over' and 'Death to England', swarmed over the gates.
Embassy staff fled the main compound by the back door before mobs broke in. Smoke rose from the grounds after a car was driven in and set alight.
It is understood Mr Chilcott was at the embassy when it was attacked. His residence and offices are on the compound.
He was praised by Mr Cameron for handling a 'dangerous situation with calm and professionalism'.
After police regained control of the main site about 300 protesters swarmed into the Gulhak Gardens complex.
The U.S. last night condemned the attack 'in the strongest terms' with President Obama urging the Iranian government to deal with those responsible.
Russia, Iran's closest ally, described the assault as 'unacceptable and deserving condemnation'.
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