12 protesters arrested during British embassy unrests

Iran's Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam announced on Saturday that his forces have arrested 12 people during the Tuesday night protests which erupted at the British embassy in Central Tehran and its second compound in the Northern part of the capital."12 people were detained during the students' break-ins at the British embassy and the Qolhak garden," Ahmadi Moqaddam told reporters on Saturday. "Those arrested have been handed over to the judicial authorities," he added. Ahmadi Moqaddam underlined that the Iranian police forces made their utmost efforts to protect the British embassy during the protests, and mentioned that the mission's officials praised the police for elevating security measures and protecting the embassy staff against physical harms and injury. Earlier, Iran's Deputy Police Chief Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan had announced that police have started investigations into the details of the Tuesday protests in which angry self-driven protesters broke into the British embassy and its garden in Northern Tehran. Radan announced on Wednesday that police forces have arrested those who entered the embassy. He stressed that a number of those who entered the embassy building had been arrested while necessary measures had been taken to arrest more people involved in the embassy occupation which took no more than a couple of hours. According to Radan, people who had penetrated into the Qolhak Garden have also been arrested. The protests started Tuesday afternoon after thousands of protesters who had gathered in front of the British embassy in Tehran entered the embassy compound and brought down the British flag, demanding an immediate expulsion of London's ambassador from Tehran and a full closure of the embassy.