PROTESTS
An Egyptian diplomat said students had staged regular protests outside the Egyptian interests section in north Tehran since Monday, often preventing diplomats from going to work.He said police had scuffled with demonstrators and had erected barriers on the road to the mission to try to prevent them reaching the premises. Iran and Egypt do not have full diplomatic ties but have interest sections in Cairo and Tehran.Students also plan a protest on Thursday outside the Jordanian embassy, which like Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel, media reported. Two petrol bombs were thrown into the Jordanian compound on Tuesday without causing major damage.
Hardline student groups have written letters to the Jordanian ambassador and head of the Egyptian mission "giving them 48 hours to choose between clearly condemning Israel's attack on Gaza or leaving Iran's soil," a newspaper reported.Students also demanded Egypt open its border to Gaza, the daily Seda-ye Edalat said. Cairo sometimes lets wounded people and medical supplies through but Egypt's border has been closed to ordinary traffic since Hamas took control of Gaza.The newspaper said the deadline expired at noon on Thursday. It said if demands were not met students would "carry out their revolutionary duty as happened on 13th Aban, 1358," the Iranian date when students stormed the U.S. embassy in 1979.A group of students broke into a British embassy residential compound in north Tehran on Tuesday, and an Iranian news agency said they planted a Palestinian flag. Britain's Foreign Office said all staff were safe.
by Zahra Hosseinian
(Additional reporting by London bureau, writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
(Additional reporting by London bureau, writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Katie Nguyen)
As in the days of Noah...