Britain Should Be Held Accountable for Attack on Iran Embassy: MP

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Abolfazl Hassanbeigi pointed to the attack, in which four men dressed in black raided the Iranian embassy in London, and said British security forces have a responsibility to ensure the embassy’s security.

“It is not acceptable at all that some outlaws enter Iran’s embassy in Britain and desecrate the holy flag of the Islamic Republic,” he said.

The lawmaker further said the British government should be held accountable and pledge to prevent the recurrence of such attacks.

In the attack, the four men climbed on to a first-floor balcony of the building, took down the Iranian flag, and waved flags of their radical cult in an apparent protest against the Islamic Republic.

No one was hurt during the incident and the trespassers were arrested when they came down after around three hours. The four are detained for causing criminal damage and being unlawfully on diplomatic premises, a spokeswoman for London’s Metropolitan Police said.

“Immediately after the incident was reported, Dr. Araqchi, the (Iranian) deputy foreign minister for political affairs, expressed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s strong protest to the British ambassador to Tehran and demanded that the UK police fully protect our diplomats in London and immediately deal with the assailants,” the Foreign Ministry’s website quoted Spokesman Bahram Qassemi as saying.

According to the spokesperson, the British ambassador to Tehran has extended the British government’s official apology.

Qassemi quoted the British envoy as saying that the UK riot police are present at the scene and have the situation under control.

He finally called for the prosecution and punishment of those behind the raid.

Also, Iran’s ambassador to Britain, Hamid Baeidnejad, tweeted that the assailants were “advocates of the Shirazi cult”. He said all staff at the embassy were safe.