Iran protesters attack UK embassy in Tehran - live

Iranian students have stormed the UK embassy in Tehran, removing the Union flag

2.49pm GMT / 9.49am EST: Tabnak, a conservative website close to the former revolutionary guards commander, Mohsen Rezaei, claims the protesters have confiscated secret and spy documents from British embassy compound.

2.44pm GMT / 9.44am EST: This YouTube video shows a large crowd at the embassy, chanting and waving flags and placards.

One man holds a Union flag with a skull and crossbones on it, others can be seen trying to break open the chain on the embassy's gates. At one point a man holds up a picture of the Queen, presumably taken from inside the embassy.

2.40pm GMT / 9.40am EST: Dozens of Iranian protesters have forced their way into the British embassy in Tehran, tearing down the Union flag and throwing documents from the windows.

The Guardian's Saeed Kamali Dehghan writes:

The attack came two days after the Iranian parliament voted to expel the British ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, in retaliation against economic sanctions imposed by the west over the country's disputed nuclear programme. The Foreign Office said it was "outraged" at the events and that they were "utterly unacceptable".

Fars news agency reported on Tuesday that a small group of students chanting "death to England" had replaced the British flag with the Iranian Flag. British and Israeli flags were also reported to have been burnt during the protests. Another semi-official news agency, Ilna, said the protesters had "conquered" the embassy. The episode was shown live on state-run Press TV..

Around a thousand protesters gathered on the street in front of the embassy, waving pictures of the Iranian nuclear scientist, Majid Shahdirari, who was assassinated last November in Tehran. Others held ! pictures of another assassinated Iranian scientist, Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, and a senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Suleimani, who is said to be in charge of the group's overseas operations.

State TV reported that another group of hardline students gathered at the gate of the British ambassador's residence in northern Tehran, at the same time.


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