Regardless of the fact the IAEA report was a complete flop the PTB are trudging forward with exactly the same agenda because they will not be stopped. The internet is aflutter: EU to slap new sanctions on Iran’s officials and firms. Nothing shocking here.
Here’s the NYT today, announcing Britain Closes Embassies, Iran’s Isolation Could Complicate Nuclear Issue.
Britain’s government withdrew its diplomats from Iran on Wednesday, ordered Iran to close its embassy in London and gave Iranian diplomats a 48-hour deadline to leave Britain, officially downgrading relations with Iran to the lowest possible, short of a formal break.
We’re a little behind on covering the storming of the UK embassy in Tehran so let’s do some catching up. Big event. On Tuesday Iran protesters attack UK embassy in Tehran . Here is a brief summary from the Guardian.
• Dozens of Iranian protesters forced their way into the British embassy in Tehran, tearing down the Union flag and throwing documents from the windows. They also pulled down a picture of the Queen and burnt an embassy vehicle, as well as US, Israeli and UK flags. The protesters said they wanted to shut down the embassy. Protesters also targeted Gholhak Gardens, a British diplomatic compound in north Tehran that has been a source of contention between Iranian and UK officials over its ownership. Both of the protests have now ended.
• The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, said he held the Iranian government responsible for failing to protect the embassy, despite Tehran’s expressions of regret for today’s events. The foreign office advised British nationals in Iran to stay indoors and keep a low profile after the attacks. The Iranian foreign ministry said it regretted the events and was committed to the safety of diplomats on its soil but Hague said it “remains a very serious failure by the Iranian government”.
• The semi-official Fars news agency said six UK embassy staff were rescued by police after being held hostage by the protesters who it described as “self-motivated university students”. The UK foreign office would not comment directly but Hague said that all staff had been accounted for.
• Clashes between police and protesters were reported at the UK embassy. One protester was in a critical condition, according to Fars. It said several protesters and police officers were injured. Police used teargas to try to disperse protesters. Some were reportedly arrested at Gholhak Gardens.
6.10pm GMT / 1.10pm EST: The UK’s foreign secretary, William Hague , has issued a strong statement on Iran. He said all embassy staff are accounted for but his anger has clearly not been mollified by Iran’s expression of regret for today’s events…
So, that explains why the UK kicked out the Iranian embassy staff today.
And now the fun begins, hot off the press: UK embassy attack orchestrated by Iranian authorities: sources. Huh? what sources?
The storming of the British embassy in Tehran was not staged by a group of students expressing their indignation at UK policies, but was rather orchestrated by the Iranian authorities, sources said on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the attack was planned under the auspices of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and supervised by Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of the Basij paramilitary forces.
Photographs that depicted the attack on the embassy showed that a special force affiliated with the Basij, in addition to the other regular Basij troops, took part.
Other photos showed that revealed that members of al-Quds brigade also took part in the attack.
The sources added that two official channels broadcast the storming of the embassy live. The channels were Press T.V. and al-Alam News Network, both directly controlled by Khamenei.
Of course, why didn’t I think of that? It makes perfect sense that because the storming was captured live on networks controlled by Khamenei they ordered the storming of the embassy, or not.
Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, described the attack on the British embassy as an “unwise step,” while the statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry labeled it “unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the authorities arrested youths involved in the attack and sent 22 of them to court.
As a wrap, following up on his earlier article , Craig Murray reported “Gould-Werritty Plot Finally Mainstream” on Sunday. From the Independent Liam Fox, Adam Werritty, and the curious case of Our Man in Tel Aviv.
”Our Man in Tel Aviv” would be UK’s Matthew Gould, ambassador to Israel and the UK’s ex ambassador to Tehran. Craig Murray today:
“The importance of the Fox-Gould-Werritty scandal is that it lifts the lid on the fact that the move to war with Iran is not a reaction to any street attack or any nuclear agency report. It is a long nurtured plan, designed to keep feeding the huge military industrial war machine that has become a huge part of the UK and US economies, and whose sucking up of trillions of dollars has contributed massively to the financial crisis, and which forms a keystone in the whole South Sea Bubble corporate finance system for servicing the ultra-rich. They need constant, regenerative war. They feed on the shattered bodies of small children.”
Gould, Fox and Werritty were plotting with Israel to further war with Iran over years. The Werritty scandal was hushed up by Gus O’Donnell’s risibly meagre “investigation” – a blatant cover-up – and Fox resigned precisely to put a cap on any further digging into what they had been doing. I discovered – with a lot of determination and a modicum of effort – that Fox, Werritty and British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould had met many times, not the twice that Gus O’Donnell claimed, and had been in direct contact with Mossad over plans to attack Iran. Eventually the Independent published it, a fortnight after it went viral on the blogosphere.
Speaking of spies, I recommend Robert Fisk for an excellent history lesson: Sanctions are only a small part of the history that makes Iranians hate the UK
Anyway, the Iranians trashed us yesterday and made off, we are told, with a clutch of UK embassy documents. I cannot wait to read their contents. For be sure, they will soon be revealed.
Last but not least, a little comedy via Michele Bachmann:
Did Michele Bachmann have her “oops” moment?:
In light of the British Foreign Ministry pulling all U.K. nationals out of the British embassy in Tehran after students stormed the building in protest, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told a crowd in Waverly, Iowa, today that she would close the U.S. embassy in Iran.
One small, tiny note: The U.S. hasn’t had an embassy in Tehran since 1980.
Even I knew that, Michele.
Annie, if Syria has Russian supersonic land-to-sea cruise missiles since 4 or 5 years, you can guess what the Russians have been supplying to Iran. All the chatter about Israel hitting Iran is PR BS.
The “uprising” against the UK embassy in Iran was a weird one indeed – just look at the middle-aged men of military comportment that make up the bulk of the “protesters” … and look at the bad acting – the lackadaisical energy to their “protest” … what was the Iranian leadership thinking when they set this up? Were they after some “smoking gun” document to prove British complicity in an unnecessary attack on Iran? (as if that would matter – Niger “yellowcake” was totally discredited and the Iraq war went ahead anyway). Did they just intend to make a mockery of the whole run-up to war (I doubt they lack that subtlety)? What was the goal of that?
That the Iranian government failed to prevent this attack on the British embassy is a major failure on their part. Perhaps it was a spontaneous act or possibly something that was orchestrated by the bajids (sp?) makes no difference. This is exactly the kind of provocation that the forces for war in the West desire and the Iranians gave them an excuse. This seems to be a major signal that important forces inside Iran actually want war. If Iran or powerful factions within their government want war, then they have have a dancing partner here in the West and Israel that are willing to tango.
We should not excuse what is going on inside Iran. I am afraid that they have a war party much as despicable as those inside the US, UK and Israel. This will not end well for the rest of us.
It’s unfortunate that the media is trying to blame the Iranian government for the actions of student groups. And frankly, the UK earned this ire by heeling when the US tells them what to do.
Not that long ago, a number of British military personnel were captured after having ventured into Iranian waters. They were released almost immediately. That isn’t going to happen any more, and it’s Britain’s fault for following us along on their leash on Iran, just like they have with Iraq.
What I don’t get is why the British vote for these sort of clowns for Parliament. I thought you guys had better choices than we do over here, we only have two and one is basically the diet version of the other flavor.
Annie. Good for you. Great report. Frankly, this will be one of the few places on the web where you will get the truth other than the Leverett site, and Craig Murray’s. Annie is telling the truth here, sports fans.