Ambassador speaks of his Tehran terror

Britain’s ambassador to Iran has described how staff tried to bar the way to protesters who stormed a residential compound and the main embassy building in Tehran.

Dominick Chilcott said that at the residential complex seven members of staff were seized, some being “roughly handled” before release.

One, he said, had been cornered alone in a “keep” – a room designed to provide a safe haven until the police arrive – for 45 minutes while intruders tried to batter their way in. “He barricaded the door with a heavy safe and a bed, and braced himself against the wall. And for 45 minutes he could hear people bashing down the door, smashing the windows and trying to get in,” he said.

Mr Chilcott was in the main embassy building with other staff. Intruders were unable to get to them but when a fire was started in another part of the complex, the staff were forced to evacuate to escape the smoke.