Protesters besiege Danish embassy in Tehran
TEHRAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A crowd of about 400 demonstrators threw petrol bombs at the Danish embassy in Tehran and tried to break into it on Monday night in a protest over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
To chants of "God is Greatest" and "Death to America" the crowd tried to break down the metal gate entrance to the embassy, which sits behind a high wall in a residential district of northern Tehran, a Reuters correspondent said.
Riot police fired teargas to disperse the crowd but at least three protesters managed to scale the barbed-wire topped wall and get into the compound.
The embassy had been evacuated ahead of the pre-announced protest organised by the Basij, a volunteer militia affiliated to Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards.
Several dozen petrol bombs were hurled at the premises, but only a handful of which went over the wall. The flames were quickly doused by firemen at the ready nearby.
Danish diplomatic missions have been set ablaze and ransacked in Syria and Lebanon in recent days over the cartoons, which were first published in a Danish newspaper.
Iran's Commerce Minister Massoud Mirkazemi announced on Monday that Iran was severing all trade relations with Denmark.
Earlier on Monday, about 200 protesters threw fire bombs and stones at the Austrian Embassy in Tehran, breaking several windows but causing no major damage. Austria holds the rotating European Union presidency.
To chants of "God is Greatest" and "Death to America" the crowd tried to break down the metal gate entrance to the embassy, which sits behind a high wall in a residential district of northern Tehran, a Reuters correspondent said.
Riot police fired teargas to disperse the crowd but at least three protesters managed to scale the barbed-wire topped wall and get into the compound.
The embassy had been evacuated ahead of the pre-announced protest organised by the Basij, a volunteer militia affiliated to Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards.
Several dozen petrol bombs were hurled at the premises, but only a handful of which went over the wall. The flames were quickly doused by firemen at the ready nearby.
Danish diplomatic missions have been set ablaze and ransacked in Syria and Lebanon in recent days over the cartoons, which were first published in a Danish newspaper.
Iran's Commerce Minister Massoud Mirkazemi announced on Monday that Iran was severing all trade relations with Denmark.
Earlier on Monday, about 200 protesters threw fire bombs and stones at the Austrian Embassy in Tehran, breaking several windows but causing no major damage. Austria holds the rotating European Union presidency.
posted by Marko at 2/06/2006 12:45:00 PM
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