UK embassy in Tehran attacked
2006-02-26 14:43
Tehran - The British embassy in Tehran was attacked with petrol bombs and rocks on Sunday as hundreds of Iranian militiamen protested over the bombing of a holy Shiite Muslim shrine in neighbouring Iraq.
About 700 protestors, mainly from the student wing of the official Basij militia, jostled with anti-riot police after lobbing Molotov cocktails and rocks at the gate of the downtown compound.
The chanted slogans included "Death to Britain" and "Shut down the spy den!". Some 200 police were on hand for the protest, and quickly extinguished any flames on the walls of the mission.
Another protest earlier Sunday had passed off peacefully, but the British embassy in Tehran is a frequent target of protests by regime supporters.
Several other European embassies in Tehran have been attacked in recent weeks over the publication in a Danish and other European newspapers of caricatures depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
Shiite-ruled Iran has declared a seven-day mourning period following Wednesday's partial destruction of the 1 000- year- old Imam Ali al-Hadi shrine in Samarra, with the Islamic republic's leaders pointing the finger at the US and Israel.
The golden dome of the shrine collapsed after assailants disguised as security agents detonated explosives, triggering four days of widespread communal violence in Iraq.