Diplomats at the Iranian embassy in London left Britain on Friday after being expelled following the storming of the British embassy in Tehran, the Foreign Office said. "I can confirm that, earlier this afternoon, all diplomatic staff of the Iranian embassy in London took off from Heathrow airport," said a spokesman.
"They are returning to Iran in line with the foreign secretary's statement to parliament on Wednesday." Foreign Secretary William Hague had given Iran's diplomats 48 hours to close the embassy and leave the country after the attack on Britain's mission in Tehran on Tuesday.
Officials at the Iran Air office in London earlier said the diplomats were due to leave on a chartered flight from the capital's Heathrow international airport at about 1600 GMT. Ahead of their departure, the Iranian flag still flew outside the Iranian embassy in an upscale area of west London but a stream of people could be seen carrying suitcases and boxes out of the premises.
A removals van was also parked outside a residential annexe to the building, while a British policeman was stationed at the door of the embassy. Hague's announcement was made shortly before 1400 GMT on Tuesday but the Foreign Office would not confirm the exact deadline for the diplomats' departure. "They (the diplomats) are leaving on a chartered plane from Heathrow at about 4:00 pm (1600 GMT)," an official at the Iran Air office in London told AFP.
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