Saeed Kamali Dehghan: Iranian Police Rescue British Embassy Workers!

Iranian police have secured the release of six British embassy employees taken hostage at a compound in northern Tehran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. "Police freed the six people working for the British embassy in Qolhac garden," Fars said. No further details of the hostage-taking were forthcoming. Earlier, dozens of Iranian protesters forced their way into the British embassy at a separate location in Tehran, tearing down the union flag and throwing documents from windows. The attack came two days after the Iranian parliament voted to expel the British ambassador, Dominick Chilcott, in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed by the west over the country's disputed nuclear program. The Foreign Office sad it was "outraged" at the events, which it described as "utterly unacceptable". Fars reported that a small group of students chanting "Death to England!" had replaced the British flag with the Iranian flag. British and Israeli flags were also reported to have been burned during the protests. Ilna, another semi-official news agency, said the protesters had "conquered" the embassy. The events were shown live on state-run Press TV. There was no immediate word on casualties.