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The Iranian Embassy Siege of 1980 was a terrorist siege of the Iranian embassy in London. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one State or an international Inter-governmental organization (such as the United Nations) present in London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The siege was ended when British special forces, the Special Air Service (SAS), stormed the building in Operation Nimrod. In most countries special forces (SF is a generic term for highly-trained Military teams/units that conduct specialized operations such as Reconnaissance The Special Air Service ( SAS) is a Special forces regiment within the British Army which has served as a model and inspiration for the special The incident brought the SAS to the world's attention as the whole episode was played out in the media. The news media refers to the section of the Mass media that focuses on presenting current News to the public [1]

Contents

Embassy capture

At 11:30 on 30 April 1980 a six-man terrorist team calling itself the "Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan" (DRMLA), captured the building in Prince's Gate, South Kensington in central London. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 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, alleged political prisoners of the Iranian government, held in Iranian jails. Khūzestān (خوزستان is one of the 30 provinces of Iran.

Twenty-six hostages were taken (including PC Trevor Lock, the police constable on official protection duty at the main entrance and a visiting BBC radio journalist) when the terrorists first stormed the building, but five were released over the following few days. A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security "Metropolitan Police" redirects here See also Metropolitan police. 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. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force For Wikipedia's negotiation policy see WikipediaNegotiation. For other uses see Negotiation (disambiguation. 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. Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern

On the sixth day of the siege the terrorists killed a hostage, press attaché Abbas Lavasani, and threw his body outside. This marked an escalation of the situation and prompted Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's decision to proceed with the rescue operation. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 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, David McNee passed a note to the Ministry of Defence, stating this was now a "military operation". The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, usually just referred to as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner or more colloquially as the Met Commissioner, is the Sir David McNee, QPM (born 1925 in Glasgow, Scotland) was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1977 to 1982 and Chief The Ministry of Defence ( MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters

Media contingents had been camped outside the SAS barracks Stirling Lines in Hereford since the siege began. Hereford ( ˈhɛrɨfəd is a city, Civil parish and County town of Herefordshire, England. However the CRW team had been off base at a training exercise and remained in the field until called upon. Thus the media were unable to follow the SAS to the embassy.

However news teams were camped outside the embassy. A unit from the British news organisation ITN, using recently-introduced ENG camera equipment, managed to establish a viewpoint at the rear of the embassy. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located ITN ( Independent Television News) is a major news and content provider with headquarters in the United Kingdom. ENG is a Broadcasting (usually Television) industry acronym which stands for electronic news gathering. It was images from this vantage point that showed the SAS raid on the building live on television after their correspondent had been 'tipped off'.

SAS assault

In preparation for storming the building, the landing paths of planes into Heathrow Airport were lowered and British Gas began noisy drilling in an adjoining street to provide noise cover as the SAS moved into position. British Gas plc was formerly the Monopoly gas supplier in the United Kingdom. Prior to the attack the terrorists and hostages had been observed through fibre-optic probes that had been inserted through the shared wall of an adjoining building. An optical fiber (or fibre) is a Glass or Plastic fiber that carries Light along its length Microphones were used to eavesdrop from the building next door. The raid had been rehearsed in a mock-up of the building in a nearby army barracks in central London.

The assault started at 19:23 hours on May 5, 1980 (a Bank Holiday Monday)[1] 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. Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) A bank holiday is a Public holiday in the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland. Simultaneously, electrical power was cut to the building. Some SAS troopers 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 and the SAS troopers were armed with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns. The MP5 is a 9 mm Submachine gun of German design developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the West German arms manufacturer [1]

Five of the six terrorists were killed and nineteen hostages were saved. One of the terrorists was later found to have been shot 27 times. One hostage was killed by a terrorist during the attack. [1] One of the SAS men, Fijian staff-sergeant "Tak" Takavesi, became tangled in his abseiling gear on his entry to the building. Before he could be cut free, a fire started by a stun grenade and fueled by the curtains on the windows reached the sergeant, and he suffered minor burns. However, Takavesi carried on with the operation despite his injuries.

After the assault ended, the last surviving gunman tried to hide as a hostage, but was identified by a real hostage. [1] One SAS soldier was about to take him back into the building presumably to be shot; however, the soldier was prevented when it was pointed out that the world's media were watching. [1]

Aftermath

There was some controversy over the killing of a few of the terrorists, especially Shai and Makki. They were guarding the Iranian hostages, and towards the end of the raid the hostages persuaded the terrorists 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]

At a coroner's inquest the SAS were cleared by a jury. A coroner is an official responsible for investigating deaths particularly some of those happening under unusual circumstances and determining the cause of death An inquest is a judicial investigation usually by a group of court-appointed people ( Jury) in Common law Jurisdictions The most common kind of inquest A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them 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. Major Sir Denis Thatcher 1st Baronet, MBE, TD (10 May 1915 &ndash 26 June 2003 was an English Businessman, and the husband of the For other meanings see Regent's Park (disambiguation Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks "Tom", one of the SAS soldiers present, said of a later meeting with Denis Thatcher:

"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 was sentenced to life imprisonment. Life imprisonment or life incarceration is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime often for most He became eligible for parole in 2005. Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system With the date of his parole nearing, commentators noted that the British government may be unable to deport him to Iran on his release, as he may face torture or execution there, and could be forced to grant him political asylum. Deportation, not to be confused with Extradition, generally means the expulsion of someone from a place or Country. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Right of asylum (or political asylum) is an ancient Judicial notion under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his 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. A constable is a person holding a particular office most commonly in law enforcement. I think he has been punished – fair enough. "[2][3]

The news coverage thrust journalist Kate Adie into the limelight. A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends Kate Adie OBE (born Kathryn Adie September 19 1945) is a British Journalist. It was also a breakthrough for women journalists in general, as until that time warzones and other hotspots were the preserve of male reporters. Conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of Needs values and interests As that afternoon's BBC duty reporter, Adie was 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. The World Snooker Championship, currently held at the Crucible Theatre in the English city of Sheffield, is the climax of Snooker 's annual calendar and At forty-five minutes, this was the longest "newsflash" (ITN called it an 'open-ender') on British television to date.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Six days that shook Britain by Peter Taylor, The Guardian, July 24, 2002
  2. ^ Embassy gunman could get asylum (BBC News)
  3. ^ Dilemma for Clarke over Iranian embassy siege survivor, by Adrian Addison, The Guardian, February 20, 2005

Sources

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