Shots fired at British Embassy building in Iran

Shots were fired near a British Embassy residential compound in the Iranian capital Tehran last night, but no one was injured, the British Foreign Office said today.

A couple of shots were fired near the compound in north Tehran, the FO said, adding that “we are looking into this with the Iranian authorities.”

It was unclear whether there were any witnesses to the incident or if it caused any damage.

About a dozen police officers were seen guarding the compound Monday, but there were no visible signs of the shooting.

The British Embassy, which is in a separate compound in central Tehran, was hit by five bullets on September 3 and briefly closed. More shots were fired near the building almost a week later. No one was hurt in either incident.

The first shooting came two days after a rowdy protest outside the embassy over Britain’s role in the occupation of Iraq.

The incidents also coincide with tension between London and Tehran over Britain’s arrest of a former Iranian ambassador who is wanted in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina.

Hade Soleimanpour, 47, was detained last month in northern England on an extradition warrant from Argentina.

On Friday, he was freed on bail after a judge said there was no clear evidence linking him to the 1994 Buenos Aires bombing, in which 85 people died.

Soleimanpour was Iran’s ambassador to Argentina at the time.

His extradition case is due to start on Friday.