They so badly want a repeat of the U.S. embassy takeover. A member of Iran’s assembly suggested it while commenting on Sunday’s resolution that called Britain “worse than the devil” and called for the expulsion of its ambassador. He said “The British government should know that if they insist on their evil stances, the Iranian people will punch them in the month, exactly as happened against America’s den of spies.” Another legislator called for the embassy to be padlocked.
Two days later, willing minions have tried to oblige and take over the embassy. “Iranian protest leads to embassy incursion,” from CNN, November 29:
Tehran, Iran (CNN) — Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran Tuesday, breaking down the door, throwing around papers and replacing the British flag with an Iranian one.
Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that police had the incident under control, but Britain’s Foreign Office called the situation “fluid” and said “details are still emerging.”
“There has been an incursion by a significant number of demonstrators into our Embassy premises, including vandalism to our property,” the Foreign Office said. “We are outraged by this. It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it.”
The Foreign Office added that “under international law, including the Vienna Convention,” the Iranian government has “a clear duty to protect diplomats and Embassies in their country and we expect them to act urgently to bring the situation under control and ensure the safety of our staff and security of our property.”
They may notice that adherence to international conventions signed by past generations seem to mean less and less in certain Muslim countries. Another such example is the invasion of the Israeli embassy in Egypt, in a 13-hour rampage during which the head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces curiously “could not be reached,” and which required the intervention of the highest levels of the U.S. government in addition to Israel’s.
The incursion happened during a protest demanding that the British ambassador be sent home immediately.
A crowd of about 1,000 people gathered near the embassy for the anti-British demonstration, and had been peaceful before some participants stormed the building. A CNN producer saw students throwing stones at the embassy’s windows.
The Iranian Parliament voted Sunday to expel the ambassador and reduce diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom in retaliation for newly-imposed Western sanctions, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency. The vote must still be approved by the Guardian Council, the body that determines if laws passed by parliament are compatible with Sharia law, or Islamic law.
The Foreign Office called the Iranian Parliament’s vote Sunday “regrettable.”
“This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation or international concerns about their nuclear program and human rights record,” the office said in a statement. “If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners.”….