France pulls some diplomats out of Iran

TEHRAN, Dec. 3 (UPI) --

Some French diplomatic staff are leaving Iran following the attack by protesters on the British Embassy in Tehran, a French government official said.
The French Embassy will remain open but 20 to 30 French nationals who work at there will be leaving in the coming days, a Foreign Ministry source told The Guardian of Britain Saturday.
The French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say how many staffers were being sent home.

Radio France Internationale reported Iran's French community of about 800 people, mostly Iranian-French dual citizens, had not received specific instructions to leave the country.
Britain pulled its diplomats out of Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats from the United Kingdom after the protesters' siege on the British Embassy Tuesday.
France and other European countries have criticized the attack, in which about 200 protesters -- suspected members of the "student basij militia" -- invaded the British Embassy. The basij are a youth wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said to be angered by new U.K. sanctions on Iranian banks in response to Iran's nuclear program.
On Wednesday, William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said the protests had support of the Iranian regime.

Norway has temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran for security reasons. Germany and the Netherlands have removed ambassadors temporarily for consultations, and Italy and Spain urged Iranian envoys to denounce the attack on the British Embassy.
Iran's Foreign Ministry expressed "regret" over the attack, but parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani called it a legitimate response to "the domineering policy" of Britain.
The European Union Thursday imposed additional sanctions on Iran and said more are possible, and the U.S. Congress is poised to pass a law targeting Iran's central bank.
The United States has no embassy in Iran, but maintains contacts with the country through the Swiss Embassy.