Tehran, YJC. Chief of Police has said that in the course of the seizure of the UK Embassy the students were fooled into the premises following an imprudent attack.
In a question-and-answer session with students, Brigadier General
Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam expressed his
opinion on the 2011 seizure of the UK Embassy in Tehran as "This was a trap
laid for them. They opened the gate themselves, because it is a bullet-proof double-layer
and is controlled and opened only from the control room.”
"I believe, though,” he added, "that a number of extremists did that,
because once we give settlement we must support them and maintain their
security. A group went to the Qolhak garden and took the flag down, which was a
nasty thing to do. As we were dispatched for their arrest, we were attacked by
student groups. They had sent women forward so that our officers would not be
able to handle them.”
He
further said "I personally went to the embassy that night and the Diplomatic
Police forces had conveyed the chargé d'affaires and the embassy staff to a
safe building. As we arrived we noticed that they had no worries. I asked them ‘What
do you think? Would you like the Special Unit to stay on the premises to
maintain safety?’ The lady chargé d'affaires initially accepted the offer, but
then their security consultant whispered something in her hear and immediately
after she said that they would not like that. We took the forces out of the
embassy instantly.”
Ahmadi
Moqaddam added "One of them had opened the gate, which was an intrigue, and we
must not have gone inside. The students would push the officers into the
embassy. As I visited [the Supreme Leader] he said it was a dire mistake which ended
in our detriment.”