Iranian protesters stormed British diplomatic compounds in Tehran Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the anger against Western powers after the 1979 revolution. Britain said it was “outraged” by the storming of its embassy, saying it was “utterly unacceptable and we condemn it”. US President Barack Obama strongly urged the Iranian government to hold those responsible to account for storming the British Embassy in Tehran. “For rioters to essentially be able to overrun the embassy and set it on fire is an indication that the Iranian government is not taking its international obligations seriously,” the president said. A British Foreign Office spokesman urged the Iranian government to “act urgently to bring the situation under control”, citing its duty under international law to protect diplomats and embassies. The mob of Iranians surged past riot police into the British embassy compound two days after Iran's parliament approved a bill that reduces diplomatic relations with Britain following London's support of recently upgraded sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program. Between 100 and 300 Iranian protesters entered a second British diplomatic compound in Tehran, after an incursion into the main British embassy in the center of the capital, Iranian media reported. The second compound, in the north of the city, hosts residences for British diplomats and French, German and British schools. The state news agency IRNA said the protesters had foreigners there in their control - that they were described as “protecting”. The official IRNA news agency said about 300 protesters entered the British ambassador's residence in another part of the city and replaced British flags with Iranian ones. The occupiers called for the closure of the embassy calling it a “spy den” — the same phrase used after militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 hostages for 444 days.
