TEHRAN, Iran — Among the protesters who sparked a diplomatic storm this week by ransacking two British diplomatic compounds in Tehran were some clutching a surprising icon, portraits of an Iranian nuclear scientist killed in a bombing one year ago.
While it’s still far from clear who killed Majid Shahriari, the rioting on the first anniversary of his death highlighted anger over the Western campaign to stop Iran’s nuclear program, jitters over covert steps the U.S. and its allies might be taking, and divisions among Iran’s leadership about how to fight back.
The tension between Iran and the West increased dramatically after the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued a report Nov. 8 that cited activities it said raised concerns about a possible military dimension to Iran’s nuclear program.
On Wednesday, in the wake of the rampage at its diplomatic mission, Britain closed its embassy in Tehran and gave Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was “fanciful” to assume the assaults on his country’s installations in Tehran could have taken place without a degree of consent from elements within Iran’s leadership.
“If any country makes it impossible for us to operate on their soil, they cannot expect to have a functioning embassy here,” Hague told the House of Commons. “This is a breach of international responsibilities of which any nation should be ashamed.”
Germany and France recalled their ambassadors for consultations. Norway closed its embassy, and Italy said it was considering doing the same. The U.N. Security Council, the European Union, and the U.S., China and other countries issued strongly worded rebukes.
Many in Iran believe that, short of a pre-emptive military strike, Britain, the U.S. and Israel are engaged in a campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. and Israel don’t have embassies in Iran, so youths loyal to the clerical regime turned their anger on Britain, the “old fox” they accuse of doing the bidding of the “big Satan,” America.
Some of the protesters told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that they broke into the British Embassy and a residential compound to find documents to prove that Britain was behind the deaths of Shahriari and two other Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years.
While Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, the U.S. and many of its allies suspect the Islamic Republic is intent on developing atomic weapons.
Last year, the Stuxnet computer worm infected equipment used in Iran’s nuclear program. Many believe it was created by the U.S. or Israel.
Iran also has been rattled by a series of unexplained explosions — at a missle base, at oil refineries and along natural-gas pipelines.
In Washington, former U.S. intelligence officials said it was extremely unlikely that the CIA would kill Iranian scientists because of an executive order that prohibits assassinations. But many say that Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, might engage in such efforts to stave off what the country views as an existential threat.
The former officials say the U.S. has long engaged in sabotage to slow Iran’s nuclear program, including efforts to introduce faulty spare parts.
“We definitely are doing that,” said Art Keller, a former CIA case officer who worked on Iran.
