Iranian Embassy Siege
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The Iranian Embassy Siege of 1980 was a terrorist siege of the Iranian embassy in London, United Kingdom. The siege was ended when British special forces, the Special Air Service (SAS), stormed the building in Operation Nimrod. The incident brought the SAS to the world's attention as the whole episode was played out in the media.
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[edit] Background
At 11:30 on 30 April 1980 a six-man terrorist team calling itself the "Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan" (DRMLA), sponsored by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, captured the building in Prince's Gate, South Kensington, central London.
Initially the terrorists demands were for the autonomy of an oil-rich region in southern Iran known as Khuzestan; later they demanded the release of ninety-one of their comrades held in Iranian jails. Only after the incident was over did it become known that Iraq had trained and armed the gunmen in order to embarrass Iran. This episode later became a prelude to the Iran-Iraq War.
Twenty-six hostages were taken when the gunmen first stormed the building, but five were released over the following few days. Police negotiators attempted to mollify the radicals with supplies of food and cigarettes, and on the third day a statement by the terrorists was broadcast on the BBC following threats to kill a hostage. The terrorist unit's Iraqi handler had promised the group that the Jordanian Ambassador would intervene to provide safe passage, but when it became clear this was not going to happen, the situation in the embassy deteriorated.
On the sixth day of the siege the terrorists killed a hostage — press attache Abbas Lavasani — and threw his body outside. This marked a crucial escalation of the situation and prompted Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to proceed with the rescue operation. The order to deploy a unit of the Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) wing of the SAS had been given in the first few hours of the siege. When the first hostage was shot, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner passed a note to the Ministry of Defence, stating this was now a 'military operation'.
[edit] The assault
In preparation for storming the building, the landing paths of planes into Heathrow Airport were lowered, and the gas board began noisy drilling in an adjoining street. This was to provide noise cover as the SAS moved into position. Prior to the attack the terrorists and hostages had been observed with fibre optic probes that had been inserted through the shared wall of an adjoining building. Microphones were used to eavesdrop from the building next door. The raid had been rehearsed in a mock-up of the building at the SAS regimental headquarters in Hereford.
The assault started at 19:23 hours on May 5 1980 (a Bank Holiday Monday) at the rear of the building with the detonation of a charge in a stairwell, twenty-three minutes after the dead hostage had been thrown from the building. Simultaneously, electrical power was cut to the building. Some SAS men entered the embassy from the roof, using explosive devices to blow in the window frames. Stun grenades were used to disorient the terrorists during the attack.
Five of the six terrorists were killed and nineteen hostages were saved. One hostage was killed by a terrorist during the attack.
The news coverage thrust journalist Kate Adie into the limelight. It was also a breakthrough for women journalists in general, as until that time warzones and other hotspots were the preserve of male reporters. As that afternoon's duty reporter, Adie was first on the scene as the SAS stormed the embassy. The BBC interrupted coverage of the World Snooker Championships and Adie reported live and unscripted to one of the largest news audiences ever, whilst crouched behind a car door. At forty-five minutes, this became one of the longest "news flashes" in British television history.
[edit] Aftermath
There was some controversy over the killing of a few of the gunmen, especially Shai and Makki. They were guarding the Iranian hostages, and towards the end of the raid the hostages persuaded the gunmen to surrender. Hostages witnessed them throw down their weapons and sit on the floor with their hands on their heads (weapons being thrown out of a window and a white flag were seen by video cameras outside).
Dadgar, a hostage at the time (confirmed by two other hostages) said (of the SAS):
"They then took the two terrorists, pushed them against the wall and shot them. They wanted to finish their story. That was their job." ...[they might have] "had something in their pockets but certainly had no weapons in their hands at the time."[1]
It was reported a long time after the siege that the last surviving gunman was about to be led back into the building by one of the SAS men when he was found amongst the hostages, presumably to shoot him. However, the SAS man was prevented when it was pointed out that the world's media were watching.
However, at a coroner's inquest the SAS were cleared by a jury. One of the soldiers said that he thought Makki was going for a gun, and another said he thought Shai had a grenade and shot him in the back of the neck.
Margaret Thatcher and her husband Denis paid a visit to the SAS at Regent's Park barracks after the incident to thank them. "Tom", one of the SAS soldiers present, quotes Denis as saying they had partially failed:
"He had a big grin on his face and said, 'You let one of the bastards live.' We failed in that respect."[1]
Fowzi Nejad was convicted for his part in the siege, and received a life sentence. He became eligible for parole in 2005. With the date of his parole nearing, commentators noted that the UK government may be unable to deport him to Iran on his release (as he may face torture or execution there) and thus could be forced to grant him political asylum. PC Trevor Lock, on guard at the embassy when it was taken, condemned this, but one of the hostages, Dadgar, told the BBC:
"I personally forgive him, yes. I think he has been punished – fair enough."[2][3]
Fowzi might be released in January of 2007.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Siege at the Iranian Embassy (BBC News)
- Six days that shook Britain by Peter Taylor, The Guardian, July 24, 2002
- Operation "Nimrod" (in Italian)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Six days that shook Britain by Peter Taylor, The Guardian, July 24, 2002
- ^ Embassy gunman could get asylum (BBC News)
- ^ Dilemma for Clarke over Iranian embassy siege survivor, by Adrian Addison, The Guardian, February 20, 2005
- ^ Fowzi Badawi Nejad could be released in January, Al-Ahwaz News, November 7, 2006
- BBC documentary "SAS Embassy Siege", directed by Bruce Goodison, produced by Louise Norman (Best Historical Documentary, Grierson Awards 2003).
- The 1982 movie Who Dares Wins was based on this incident.
