Iranians blame UK embassy raid on rage

Group claiming responsibility for incident says 'unplanned' attack was result of anger at London's meddling in Iranian affairs.

By REUTERS
Iran British embassy protest 311 R (photo credit: REUTERS/Stringer)
Iran British embassy protest 311 R
(photo credit: REUTERS/Stringer)
TEHRAN - The storming of the British embassy in Tehran last month was not a planned attack but the result of an explosion of anger at London's meddling in Iranian affairs, a group that claimed responsibility for the incident said on Monday.
Three men who looked in their 20s said they were among the attackers of the British embassy compounds in Tehran on Nov. 29 but expressed no remorse over their acts, which further increased Iran's international isolation.
RELATED:Iran: There won't be repeat of UK embassy attackTehran: Protesters storm 2 British embassy compounds
Mostafa Mostajeran, one of the representatives of the so-called "British spy nest pickets' council", said the intention had been to protest in front of the British mission and stage a 'mock arrest' of the ambassador.
"There had been no prior planning made to enter the embassy. But the rage people felt towards Britain led to the loss of control and resulted in the entry into the embassy," he said.
The incident came after London announced new sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to halt its nuclear activities. The European Union and United States are still discussing further sanctions that could hit Iran's vital oil exports.
Britain closed its embassy and evacuated all its staff after the attack, which it said could not have taken place without some degree of consent from the Iranian authorities. It hit back by shutting Iran's embassy in London and expelling the staff.
The incident brought Iran's relations with Europe to a new low, with France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands withdrawing their ambassadors temporarily.
Witnesses said the British embassy buildings had been devastated in the attacks. Valuable paintings were slashed, personal belongings destroyed and offices set on fire.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the raids had been carried out by Basij militia, a voluntary force controlled by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.
The men at the news conference did not confirm or deny they were Basij members.
"Don't refer to us as Basijis today ... What happened was merely a slap by revolutionary students," one of them, Mohammad Javad Nikravesh, told the news conference. He accused "British stooges" of inflicting some of the damage to harm Iran's image.
Nikravesh was seated next to a photograph of Majid Shahriyari, an Iranian nuclear scientist killed one year ago in a bomb attack Iran blames on Israel and its western allies.
Nikravesh said the protesters had found "espionage and sedition documents" on the British premises that they would pass on to Iranian intelligence.