Britain was withdrawing some diplomats from Iran following the attack on its embassy in the capital, Tehran, on Tuesday after protesters stormed the British embassy and a UK compound in Iran's capital city. Tuesday's attack followed Britain's decision to impose further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. It led to Iran's parliament voting to reduce diplomatic relations with the UK. Hundreds of protesters - whom Iran described as "students" - massed outside the embassy compound before scaling the walls and the gates, burning British flags and a car. Another UK diplomatic compound in northern Tehran, known locally as Qolhak Garden, was also overrun and damaged. Iran said it regretted the incident, which it described as "unacceptable behavior by a small number of protesters". In a statement on Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague strongly denounced the acts and Prime Minister David Cameron warned of "serious consequences". Mr Cameron said the failure of the Iranian government to defend British staff and property was "a disgrace". He said all British staff and their dependents had been accounted for and he praised Britain's ambassador to Iran, Dominick Chilcott, for handling a "dangerous situation with calm and professionalism".US President Barack Obama said he was "deeply disturbed" by the attack. while the US, EU and UN Security Council also condemned the attack. Norway has decided to shut its Tehran embassy due to "security concerns" after the attack on the British embassy while France strongly denounced the attacks by the Iranian demonstrators.

VOV5/BBC