Protesters raid British missions in Tehran

IRANIAN protesters have stormed the British embassy and another British diplomatic compound in Tehran, raising tensions with the West in a confrontation over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.

More than 20 protesters clambered over the walls of the embassy in the centre of the capital, ransacking offices, smashing windows and tearing down the British flag before Iranian police stopped them.

In the second British diplomatic compound, in Tehran’s north, between 100 and 300 protesters burst in and occupied the property, which houses schools and residences, according to Iranian media.

The state news agency IRNA said the protesters had foreigners there in their control — that they were described as “protecting”.

An official in the British embassy said diplomatic staff were all safe.

The British Foreign Office expressed outrage, saying the incursion was “utterly unacceptable”.

It urged all Britons in Iran “to stay inside and keep a low profile”.

British Prime Minister David Cameron branded the Iranian government a “disgrace” for failing to protect the British embassy and its staff from surging protesters.

Earlier, the crowd had chanted “Death to Britain” and demanded the British ambassador leave the country in reaction to fresh sanctions London unveiled last week against Iran’s entire financial sector.

Protesters inside the embassy grounds were shown live on Iranian state television throwing stones at windows and looting

At the northern compound, IRNA reported that protesters had carried off “classified and espionage documents” and had also replaced the British flag with the Iranian flag.

The scenes — which recalled the 1979 storming of the US embassy that led to the rupture of US-Iranian diplomatic ties — seriously added to an intensifying showdown between Iran and Western nations.

Iran on Monday passed a law to kick out Britain’s ambassador within the next two weeks and reduce diplomatic relations to the level of charge d’affaires because of the new sanctions.

Britain has said it will act “robustly” if Iran’s foreign ministry complies.

Its sanctions were announced in conjunction with the US and Canada.

The EU and the US said on Monday they were considering extra measures to pressure Iran on its nuclear activities.

The US and its allies suspect Iran is seeking to build an atomic arsenal — a fear crystallised in a report by the UN nuclear watchdog this month that strongly suggested Tehran had researched nuclear warheads.

Israel, which views Iran as its biggest threat in the Middle East, is considering air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to Israeli media reports.