By Edward Cody
The Washington Post, Paris, 1 Dec 2011 – European nations, aroused by a mob attack on the British Embassy in Tehran, stiffened their sanctions against Iran on Thursday but stopped short of halting oil purchases from the increasingly isolated Islamic government.
The new sanctions targeted additional members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and businesses controlled by its members, according to an announcement after a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. In addition, the E.U. banned doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line.
A group of European ambassadors in Iran, accompanied by the heads of mission from Russia, Canada and Australia, visited the embassy grounds and a diplomatic residential compound Thursday to inspect the damage and expressed shock at what they saw. They described the youths’ actions Wednesday as a rampage.
Windows were broken, doors were forced open and objects had been tossed out of windows, they said. Paintings had been cut up, computers were smashed, and slogans were sprayed on the wall saying Down with England and Hezbollahis are Victorious, they added.
This is awful, said one diplomat, who asked not to be named for fear of souring his country’s relations with Iran. The inside of the building has been completely demolished.
Iranian police prevented foreign journalists from accompanying the diplomats.