Tehran voices strong protest to UK over raid on Iran's embassy

“Immediately after the incident was reported, the [Iranian] Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi, 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,” Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted as saying by the Ministry's official website on Friday.

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

Ghasemi quoted the top British diplomat as saying that the UK riot police are present at the scene and have the situation under control. According to the British ambassador, the necessary measures have been adopted to protect the lives of Iranian diplomats and to keep the attackers from breaking into the embassy building.

Ghasemi said the attackers have been arrested, and that the incident is over. He also called for the prosecution and punishment of those behind the raid.

On Friday, a number of assailants from a radical religious group based in the UK raided the Iranian embassy in London and took down and disrespected the Iranian national flag. Meanwhile, according to some reports, the British police stood aside while the assailants were attacking the building and did nothing to protect the compound.