Region | Iran
Iran condemns Britain's release of gunman involved in 1980 embassy siege
Iran condemned Britain’s release of a gunman who was involved in the 1980 siege of the Iranian embassy in London, news reports said on Monday.
- Agencies
- Published: 11:29 October 13, 2008
Tehran: Iran condemned Britain's release of a gunman who was involved in the 1980 siege of the Iranian embassy in London, news reports said on Monday.
The inmate, 50-year-old Fowzi Nejad would be freed within days after serving 27 years in jail, British media reported on Friday.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari summoned British Ambassador Geoffrey Adams on Sunday in protest at a "condemnable and indefensible" act which raised serious questions about Britain's sincerity in its ties with Iran, the Tehran Times reported.
Safari delivered a "strong protest" over the "release of a terrorist," the official IRNA news agency said.
Britain's embassy was not immediately available for comment.
Nejad was one of six gunmen who seized the Iranian Embassy in London in April 1980 for six days, demanding the release of prisoners in Iran and taking 21 hostages, two of whom they killed.
The ordeal ended after SAS troops stormed the building and rescued 19 hostages, killing five gunmen.
Iran wants Nejad to face trial in Tehran in connection with the event but Britain had blocked his deportation because it had not received assurances that he might not face the death penalty in Iran, Britain's Times newspaper said.
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