Hard-line Iranian students stormed the British diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the anger against Western powers after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Britain said it was outraged and warned of "serious consequences." Iran's parliament has approved a bill to reduce Tehran's diplomatic relations with London and... (Associated Press) 
 
 The mob surged past riot police into the British Embassy compound _ which they pelted with petrol bombs and stones _ two days after Iran's parliament approved a bill that reduces diplomatic relations with Britain following London's support of recently upgraded Western sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. The rally outside the British Embassy _ on a main street in Tehran downtown _ included protesters carrying photographs of nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari, who was killed last year in an attack that Iran blamed on Israeli and British spy services. But the official IRNA news agency said about 300 protesters entered the British ambassador's residence in another part of the city and replaced British flags with Iranian ones. One took a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth, state TV showed. State TV reported that another group of hard-line students gathered at the gate of British ambassador's residence in northern Tehran, at the same time. The semiofficial Mehr news agency said embassy staff had left the compound before the mobs entered, but it also said those who occupied the area had taken six staff as hostages. BRITAIN OUTRAGED 
 
 Police appeared to have cleared the demonstrators in front of the main downtown embassy compound, but later clashed with protesters and fired tear gas to try to disperse them, Fars said. The occupier called for the closure of the embassy calling it a "spy den" _ the same phrase used after militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 hostages for 444 days. Officials were still checking on the well-being of workers and diplomats, a spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity in line with standing policy. Iranian cleric lawmakers talk in an open session of the parliament in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. Britain's Foreign Office said it was in contact with embassy officials.
– Hard-line Iranian students stormed the British embassy in Tehran today, surging past riot police, scaling the compound’s walls, and pelting the buildings inside with rocks and petrol bombs. They then pulled down the British flag, burned it, and replaced it with an Iranian one, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported. Security forces “appeared to do little to stop them,” according to Reuters, though within less than two hours they had restored order. It’s unclear what happened to the embassy staff—Mehr said they’d fled “by the back door,” but it also at one point said students had taken six staffers hostage, according to the AP. The state-run IRNA news agency also reported roughly 300 protesters breaking into the British ambassador’s residence elsewhere in the city, and again bringing down the Union Jack flying there. The episode comes two days after Iran downgraded diplomatic relations with Britain over its endorsement of tougher Western sanctions.