TEHRAN (AFP) — A group of Iranian demonstrators stormed the British diplomatic compound in Tehran to protest London's stance towards the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, state news agency IRNA reported.
"A large group of people and students entered the Gholhak gardens, which are occupied by the British embassy to protest at Britain's policies in supporting the Zionist regime and put up the Palestinian flag there," IRNA said Tuesday.
A media officer at the British embassy in Tehran confirmed the report adding that diplomatic police had driven the demonstrators out.
"We do confirm the raid on our premises. We are in contact with Islamic republic authorities to resolve the matter," Mitra Behnam told AFP.
Gholhak gardens, a sprawling compound in north Tehran, provides accommodation for British diplomats and their families.
Britain has called for an urgent ceasefire by both sides in Gaza , where Israeli warplanes have launched waves of airstrikes against the Islamist Hamas movement since Saturday, killing at least 368 Palestinians, and Hamas militants have been firing volleys of rockets into Israel.
Several kilometres (miles) from the British embassy complex in central Tehran, the Gholhak gardens complex also houses the British Council and a school.
Islamist students have frequently protested in front of the British embassy, throwing stones and petrol bombs at the building.
In Tuesday's protest, demonstrators torched British, US and Israeli flags in front the Gholhak compound before moving towards the Egyptian interest section where they staged another protest and chanted "Death to (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak," the Fars news agency said.
Egypt has come in for strong criticism from Hamas and their sympathisers around the Muslim world for not fully opening its border with Gaza in the face of Israel's devastating four-day-old air blitz.
Fresh protests against the Israeli offensive were Tuesday held across Iran, which is a staunch supporter of the Islamist movement and does not recognise its archfoe Israel.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decreed on Sunday that anyone who died in the defence of Gaza would be deemed a martyr.
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