Demonstrators hurled petrol bombs and stones at the British embassy in Tehran for the third time in less than a week on Friday to protest the presence of Western forces in Iraq, witnesses said.
The petrol bombs landed outside the embassy, which has become the focal point for anti-war protests in Iran in recent days, the witnesses said.
A crowd of about 500 protesters gathered outside the embassy after tens of thousands - chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Britain" - earlier took part in a state-sponsored nation-wide rally against the occupation of Iraq, witnesses said.
"We want the immediate closure of the British embassy," chanted the crowd outside the embassy, which typically bears the brunt of Iranian anger against US foreign policies due to the absence of a US embassy in Iran.
Washington severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980.
A British diplomat said the protest was relatively peaceful, unlike the other two protests outside the embassy in recent days when several windows in a building inside the compound were smashed by stones hurled by protesters.
Riot police surrounding the large embassy compound in central Tehran and used batons to disperse the crowd.
"We are ready to sacrifice our lives to protect holy sites in Iraq," shouted some of the protesters.
Iran's Shia clerical leadership, relatively muted in its criticism of the US-led occupation of Iraq, has recently voiced growing opposition to the presence of US troops in the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala.
Influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, condemned the incursion of US military forces close to some of the holiest Shia shrines in southern Iraq.
"Americans made a major mistake by entering holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala," Rafsanjani, told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran.
Rafsanjani is a key adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure, who on Sunday denounced US military action in Najaf and Kerbala as "intolerable".
Comments
Comments are closed.