TEHRAN: Several small blasts rocked the British embassy in Iran and smoke rose from inside the compound in central Tehran on Sunday during a protest over 15 detained sailors and marines, but no one was hurt.
Meanwhile, Iran ignored growing international pressure to release the 15 sailors and marines, saying London should change its behaviour over the nine-day-old stand-off.
Britain said no damage had been done and no one was hurt in the protest by about 100 people. Witnesses also said the blasts did not appear to do any damage, although each sent a small plume of smoke into the air. One witness cited eight blasts saying they came from small, home-made explosive devices.
Witnesses in Tehran said the blasts were heard as demonstrators surged towards a barrier in the middle of the road near the embassy and crossed into the lines of police, some of them wearing riot gear. But the demonstrators were pushed back. “British, British, death to you, death to you,” some of the demonstrators chanted, as some hurled stones at the embassy.
Iran captured the 15 Britons on March 23, accusing them of illegally entering the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters. Britain says the sailors were seized in Iraqi waters. Their capture has prompted international criticism of Iran, with US President George W Bush calling the detention inexcusable and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, now holder of the European Union presidency, demanding the sailors’ release.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying on state television: “Iran is waiting for a change of behaviour by Britain and a balanced stance by this country over our legal demands.” He did not outline the demands but, in a speech on Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Britain should have apologised. He has also accused London of not following “the legal or logical way” in the dispute.
Adding to the tense atmosphere, Iran sent a letter to the British embassy in Tehran complaining about a shooting by British troops near its consulate in the Iraqi city of Basra. Iran said it was a provocative act but Britain denied any aggressive action and said the shooting on Thursday came from a British convoy that was ambushed in the same street.
