Iran's diplomats leave London

LONDON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Iranian diplomats, told to leave London because of an attack on the British Embassy in Tehran, departed Friday amid chants of "terrorists" and "must go."

The diplomats at the Iran Embassy all left, officials said.

As the Iranians packed luggage into a car, protesters, chanting slogans such as "terrorist, terrorists -- must go, must go," gathered nearby. Many of them were members of the London Green Movement, which opposes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and campaigns for Iranian human rights.

"As an Iranian, I'm embarrassed about what happened in the British Embassy in Tehran," said protester Akbar Karimiam, 49. "The Iranian Embassy here is not representing the nation, it's representing the regime. We are here to say goodbye to the dictator-regime represented here."

Britain has accused a militia backed by the Iranian government of carrying out the attack on the British embassy Tuesday, KUNA, the Kuwait news agency, reported.

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary William Hague gave Iranian officials until Friday to close their London offices and leave Britain.

During meetings with European Union ministers in Brussels Thursday, Hague said he welcomed the show of "a great deal of solidarity" from other countries since the embassy attack in Iran, The Daily Telegraph reported. Many countries have condemned the attack and some withdrew their ambassadors from Iran in protest.

"I think the Iranian regime should hear that loud and clear from this meeting in Brussels," Hague said.

The attack came after Britain announced its decision to impose further sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program.

On Thursday, the European Union imposed another of the sanctions designed to financially isolate the Iranian regime, a matter that had already been on the EU agenda and not prompted by the attack. The new sanctions add 180 individuals and entities associated with the regime to a list of people banned from travel in Europe, and whose assets in Europe are frozen.