Hundreds of students threw rocks and firecrackers at the British Embassy yesterday, calling for the expulsion of the country's ambassador because of the standoff over Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines. The demonstration stood in stark contrast to statements made yesterday by British government officials that they were looking for new ways to resolve the crisis peacefully. Several dozen policemen prevented the protesters from entering the embassy compound, although a few briefly scaled a fence outside the facility's walls before being pushed back, according to an AP reporter at the scene. One witness counted eight blasts from the embassy compound.The protesters chanted "Death to Britain" and "Death to America" as they hurled stones into the courtyard of the embassy. They also shouted "the British spies should be tried". In speeches made before the students turned on the compound, they demanded the Iranian government expel the British ambassador and close down the embassy, calling it a "den of spies". They also advised Tehran not to release Faye Turney, the lone female sailor held captive, or show any flexibility until the British apologised for violating Iran's borders.
Iran's official Arabic-language television channel yestreday aired short video clips of what it said were two of the 15 captured British sailors who in the footage pointed to a map of the Arabian Gulf. Government-run Al-Alam TV said the two sailors were identifying where their boat crossed into Iranian waters on March 23, leading to their capture.
The two soldiers, who appeared in separate video clips wearing military fatigues and pointing at the same map, were talking to a camera, but Al-Alam did not air their voices. Instead, the newscaster said the two "have confessed" to trespassing into Iranian waters "illegally." The newscaster also gave more details about the incident, saying the 15 left their ship in a small boat in the morning of March 23 and entered the Iranian waters at 10 am local time. The TV broadcast also said the captured sailors have said that they are receiving "good and humanitarian treatment."