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Students, police clash in front of UK embassy
Hundreds of Iranian radical students clashed with the police in front of the British embassy in Tehran.
Hundreds of Iranian radical students clashed with the police in front of the British embassy in Tehran.
The students tried to disrupt a ceremony marking the birthday of British Queen Elizabeth on Thursday after the local media and press had branded it an "American-British plot and psychological war".
Some thousand guests - mostly Iranians - were invited to the ceremony, but witnesses said all entrances were blocked as the students tried to intimidate the guests. The students also prevented bouquets from being delivered to the embassy.
Riot police later built a human tunnel for the guests to enter through a separate gate. The police were sent in particular to protect numerous foreign diplomats.
The students shouted slogans against the US and Britain and called for the expulsion of British ambassador Geoffrey Adams.
Many guests preferred to return home after seeing the clashes, and a few tangled with the students.
Riot police remained on the spot to prevent any further clashes after the end of the ceremony.
As the US has no diplomatic mission in Tehran - and is represented by Switzerland - the British embassy is often used as venue for Iranian Islamists to protest against US policies in Iraq and Washington's opposition to Tehran's nuclear projects.
