Carrying banners with a call to “finally wipe Israel from the face of the Earth,” hard-line Islamist students pelted the British Embassy in Tehran with firecrackers and a smoke grenade. On Monday, more than 150 students demanded an apology from Britain and the closure of the mission following Iran’s detention of 15 British sailors and marines in the northern Persian Gulf.Shouting slogans such as “Death to Britain,” the students attempted to scale the embassy walls and pull down the flag but were rebuffed by riot police. Hours later, two new purported confessions were broadcast on Iranian state television, which also aired previously unseen footage of two of the captured sailors ostensibly admitting incursions into Iranian waters.British officials have questioned the conditions under which the apparent confessions have been made and have protested the airing of such footage, contending that it violates international conventions for the treatment of prisoners.
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