Britain announced the closure of the Iranian embassy in London, and informed the Iranian ambassador and his staff they have 48 hours to leave the country.
Britain Foreign Secretary William Hague accused the Tehran government of supporting the invasion of UK's embassy in the Iranian capital. According to Associated Press a violent crowed stormed through the building, destroying windows and throwing firebombs couple of days after the Tehran government reconsidered its diplomatic ties with Britain and told the UK ambassador to leave Iran.
Apparently, the local police did not intervene until the building was completely destroyed.
Europe and its foreign ministers are discussing "further action which needs to be taken in the light of Iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons program," said the British Foreign Secretary.Today, Germany and France also recalled their ambassadors to Iran for "consultations" over the incident at the British embassy.
The Iranian authorities announced that they have already made several arrests and they have instigated criminal investigations for the attackers and established security measures for all foreign diplomats.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry had already expressed its regret about the terrible incidents, condemned the actions of the “few demonstrators” as unacceptable, but emphasized that their actions have never been supported by the Iranian Government.
The attack is indicative for the disparities within Iran's ruling elite over the leadership issues that have been seen with the increased international pressure as sanctions has begun to take a toll on the stagnant Iranian economy.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government do not intent to stop the work on its suspected nuclear weapons program, but have shown a willingness to continue its negotiations with the UN over the IAEA report and limit what sanctions are imposed.
"This incident was planned by elements who are not opposed per se to negotiations but want to stop them merely because of their own petty political struggles," said Trita Parsi, a US-based expert on Western-Iranian relations.
The US downgraded Iran as an area of "primary money-laundering concern," a step designed to discourage non-US banks from dealing with it; blacklisted 11 entities suspected of aiding its nuclear programs; and expanded sanctions to target companies that aid its oil and petrochemical industries.
Nevertheless, the US did not target Iran's Central Bank, a step that could have cut it off from the global financial system, sent oil prices skyrocketing and compromised the economic recovery of the US and Europe.
