A six- Day hostage Crisis and the Daring Special Forces operation that shocked the world. 30/10/24
The Iranian Embassy is a building on Princess Gate, Kensington. London overlooking Hyde Park build in 1849. former residents include Joseph Chamberlain and Field Marshal Douglas Haig.
1979 with the Islamic Revolution and the Pahlavi Dynasty was replaced by Khomeini. So Ambassador Radji followed the king into exile and Dr Gholam Ali Afrouz took over. He made the Embassy Islamic austere, no parties, no alcohol, the Rolls was replaced by a ordinary vehicle etc.
1980 May PC Lock a armed policeman stood outside the Iranian embassy but had just moved in to drink his coffee. Thinking it was an middle eastern student till he saw the rifle. He pressed his emergency button and Scotland Yard was alerted. 31 people were in the embassy. Afrouz jumped out the window was badly hurt and the gunmen pulled him back in.
Rebecca West the famous author aged 88 lived opposite and was watching and started making notes on what was happening. Later was evacuated till the siege was over. In the end she wrote an article on her birds eye view of what she saw and this was the last article she published before she died in 1983.
The Khomeini's regime had taken 91 Arabs in Iranian Arabstan prisoners and this Martyr Muhylddin Al Nassar group had taken the Embassy to get them released. The British police didn't understand the issue. To them there was the pro Shah or pro Khomeini protesters.
1925 Resa Shah Palavi took power with British backing tried replacing Persian in the minority areas of Arabic, Turkic and other languages. This province was Arabstan or Ahwas but was renamed Khuzestan the Persian term. Independent it could have been a gulf state like Kuwait or Qatar and it posseted most of Iran's oil. Arabs thought that the end of the Shah and the Khomeini's promise would get Arabstan it rights. Many from Arabstan fled to Iraq where they were trained to undermine the Khomeini regime. The Islamic State ignored the 4,500,000 Arabs.
1975 Ramirez Sanchez or Carlos the Jackal led a group of pro- Palestinians militants in an assault on the OPED meeting in Vienna. With a large ransom for the Palestinian cause were flown out to Libya. Carlos organized this London attack but did not take part in it.
General Abdul Razzaq al-Naif who was the former Iraqi PM and was deposed by Saddam Hussein. He was assassinated in London as he left the Intercontinental Hotel in 1978.
1979 In Teheran the US embassy was taken hostage and this gave President Carter a problem. The American attempt with Delta Force to liberate these hostages had failed as 3 of the 8 helicopter were crippled before reaching the rendezvous.
In 1972 the Black September had seized the Israeli athletes in Munich and a disaster followed resulting in all the hostages and most of the terrorists killed. This resulted in the British SAS training on how to deal with this type of thing.
With the siege the police now put a negotiator to help try gather information of the personalities motivation and intention as well as weapons' hopes and fear of the hostage takers. 3 Iranian captives were press officers and 2 British journalist as well. The terrorist wanted recognition of free Arabstan. Though they claimed to be suicidal fanatics they had invested in expensive watches and bracelets and that contradicted this.
Douglas Hurd was foreign minister. Thatcher had left little to negotiate with. Professor John Gunn of forensic psychiatry was an expert on criminal behavior.
The Ayatollah government in Iran had declared that the Iranian diplomats were prepared to become martyrs for the Islamic State cause.
Being held hostage can cause or exacerbate and number of health issues.
The police set up in the School of Needlework a museum where to protect the object smoking is forbidden . It is difficult to control a siege with fidgety, nicotine deprived people nipping out for a smoke, so they moved to the Montessori Centre. They now had to obtain recent photos and build up a file of the terrorists as well as the hostages. By chance this embassy was the most defensible building in London as it had been given bullet proof glass and had been reinforced..
M16 and the Foreign Office had concluded correctly that Saddam Hussein was behind this attack and openly supported the Arab Liberation Movement in Iran. The weapons smuggled in to kill General Abdu Razzag wl Naif in 1978 had come in under diplomatic cover. Hussein thugs with Palestinian Allies. The terrorists demand was that 91 Arab political prisoners in Iran's jails be released.
One death of a hostage leave room for a relatively peaceful solution 2 shows a dangerous trend.
Margret Thatcher stated that if things go horribly wrong then she would take the blame and not the soldiers.
300 Khomeini supporter protested in London, shouting " Death to President Carter"
The Iranian government declared that their London embassy staff were prepared to die as martyr and go directly to heaven for Iran and would not negotiate with the terrorists. Martyrdom is central to Shia Islam. Kurt Waldheim was secretary general of UN and called for restraint.
The SAS had been based in Ireland and had fought the IRA there and Lord Louis Mountbatten the Queens cousin was assassinated there in 1979 in the period of troubles 1968 to 1998.
Stockholm Syndrome where the hostages empathize with their captors and goals. Lima Syndrome where the abductors form warm feeling for those they have captured and begun to question their own aims. The gunmen wanted to write slogans on the walls of the rooms and it led to an argument with the Embassy staff. This siege was a proxy war between Iraq and Iran and no Arab countries wanted to get embroiled in it.
Under the Khomeini Regime the embassy women had to wear scarves by now they had removed them.
The police thought that if women police were used they could get a better deal if they had to drive the terrorist ta an airport, women have a softer and gentler approach. Women had not been used since WW2 under Churchills Special Operations that deployed women in Nazi occupied Europe.
1970 El Al flight Leila Khaled tried to highjack was arrested on landing in London and put in jail but released in a hostage exchange.
Planes flying to Heathrow were rerouted over this Kensington embassy so that the could drill listening devises into the walls during the noise. Before they attacked the SAS had plans of the embassy building and almost knew where each hostage and the terrorists were. BBC kept reporting that a diplomatic solution was still being sought. Some of the terrorists' were keen to give up as they had made their point and if nobody was killed were told they would hardly spend time in jail.
1980 Josip Broz Tito the President of Yugoslavia died while this was on.
This saw the largest gathering of news reporters since the Queens coronation in 1953
Three TV stations viewed what looked like a catastrophe unfolding. The building was rocked by an explosion. The first breaking news event broadcast alive on every British TV channel. After the hostages arrived at the back it was unclear how many survived some were injured. 2 hostages had died. One killed by the terrorists. The SAS operation had been a complete and dramatic success and Margaret Thatcher breathed a sign of relief. William Whitelaw realized that Margaret had taken on an immense burden and responsibility. Operation Nimrod had lasted just 11 minutes. Named after the biblical warlike hunter.
The embassy siege changed the way the world saw the SAS , Margaret Thatcher and terrorism. She was iron willed , uncompromising and decisive and had sent a signal every where that they could not expect deals. This was a crime committed on British soil. The SAS moved away behind the building and were taken away in a closed vehicle and not interviewed by the press. The 19mm parabellum bullet comes from the Latin saying Si vis pacem para bellum." If you seek peace prepare for war". Some of the soldiers, paratroopers had seen service in Cyprus , Borneo, Libya, Malta and Middle East.
1982 The Argentine junta invaded the Falklands. The SAS was now part of Mrs. Thatcher's Army and sent to fight against Argentina.
The Iranian Government thanked Britain for liberating its diplomats but refused to release the American hostages, in Teheran. The attack on the embassy was an attempt by Sandam Hussein to destabilize Iran and the Iran, Iraq war erupted in Sept 1980.
1982 one of Abu Nidal group attempted to assassinator Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Argov and this led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon to root out PLO terrorists.
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