British embassy in Iran stoned

2004-05-16 16:55

London - The British foreign office downplayed a demonstration in Tehran on Sunday during which several hundred Islamic students threw rocks at the British embassy, merely calling it an "event" and that there were "no problems" to report.

"We talked to our duty office in Tehran who confirmed there was an organised event with about 100 people, which was for most the day and rose to a maximum of just over 200 or so," a spokesperson told AFP.

"There was organised chanting, the (Iranian) police kept them to the other side of the road from the embassy's road, a couple of stones were thrown, no problems," he said about the students that were protesting Britain's military involvement in Iraq.

An AFP correspondent had earlier reported that several hundred Islamic students threw rocks at the British embassy in the Iranian capital and tried to storm the building, but were successfully turned back by riot police.

The protesters chanted anti-American, anti-British and anti-Israeli slogans, and burned flags of the three countries.

In London, the spokesperson said the embassy had closed at its normal time and would reopen Monday on schedule.

- AFP