Iranian police detained 20 demonstrators as they protested outside the British embassy in Tehran against a landmark visit by Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Mellat said dozens of Muslim fundamentalists took part in Monday's protest. Some of the detained were held only briefly and others were expected to be released soon, a senior police source told the daily.
Police, including anti-riot forces, were deployed in strength around the embassy to prevent the unauthorized demonstration, which took place just hours ahead of Straw's arrival early Tuesday.
Dozens of protestors approached the embassy but they later left peacefully and the riot police withdrew their cordon, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
Straw, the highest-ranking British official to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, was to hold talks on Tuesday with President Mohammad Khatami focused on US efforts to forge a coalition against terrorism -- TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
