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13 December 2011 - 22:39

National security and foreign policy commission of Iran's Majlis (parliament) probed the issue of protesters attack on the British Embassy in Tehran at a session ten days after the incident.

According to Khabar Online correspondent, the officials from Iran's Foreign Ministry, the Intelligence Ministry and the Iranian Police also attended the session to discuss on the issue.
 
As Kazem Jalali the spokesman of national security and foreign policy commission of Majlis said, although foreign media accused Iranian Police of neglecting its duty of protecting the British Embassy, the protest in front of the embassy had been originally authorized by the Interior Ministry and the protesters had submitted a written undertaking to stay away from any illegal acts.
 
"The police has its own definition of legal and authorized protests which is supposed to be obeyed by the protesters, and takes the necessary measures to prevent any unlawful move," he said.
 
A report on the event provided by the police officials was also submitted to national security commission. The report points out the measures police took to protect the British Embassy and prevent Basiji students from entering to the place and forcing them out of there.
 
The demonstration staged in front of the British Embassy and the other UK's diplomatic compounds in north Tehran was meant for condemning the latest economic sanctions imposed by the UK on the Islamic Republic of Iran. On November 21, the British officials ordered all financial institutions of their country to stop doing business with their Iranian counterparts and with the central bank of Iran (CBI).
 
Earlier Iran's Foreign Ministry had issued a statement expressing deep regret over the events. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast had called the storm into the British Embassy "an unpredictable move".
 
Jalali in his part said: "The entrance of the protesters to the embassy was unlawful and a breach of international protocols which caused those who bear malice for Iran to take advantage of the incident."
 
"The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to observe international conventions and commitments, for this reason Iran is one of the safest places for foreign embassies," the lawmaker added.
 
Elsewhere in his remarks, Jalali stated: "Our police force played a key role in protecting the British ambassador and his diplomatic staff. As a result, unlike the incident which occurred in 1980 at Iran's Embassy in London where two Iranian diplomats were martyred, the personnel of the British Embassy in Tehran suffered no harm."
 
On 30 April 1980, a group of armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London and took 26 people hostage, mostly embassy staff. The hostage-takers, members of a terrorist group who were allegedly fighting for the autonomy of Iran's Khuzestan Province, demanded the release of Arab prisoners from jails in Khuzestan and their own safe passage out of UK which was refused by the British government. During the ensuing raid launched by British police, the hostage takers killed two members of Iran's diplomatic staff.
 
The spokesman of the national security commission of the Majlis went on to say: "A comprehensive book is needed to detail numerous attacks on Iranian embassies and diplomats outside the country in post-Islamic revolution era. We hope that Foreign Ministry and the government pursue the case more seriously."
 
"Based on the reports, the protesters' entrance to the British Embassy entails a number of problems and ambiguities, as the British staff had not taken necessary security measures. For example the doors could be easily opened by the invaders. So the case is originally suspicious but is supposed be probed more by the national security commission of the Majlis.
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News ID 181276