TEHRAN, Iran ? Britain began withdrawing some diplomatic staff and families from Tehran on Wednesday as international condemnation spread over attacks on British compounds by hard-line protesters. Iran called the mayhem unacceptable, but the parliament speaker said Britain's "domination-seeking" policies were ultimately to blame.
Norway, meanwhile, closed its embassy in Tehran due to security concerns after Tuesday's assault on the British Embassy and a residential complex. France and others joined the global criticism.
Mobs hauled down British flags and ransacked offices in retaliation for Britain's support of tighter sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
In London, the Foreign Office said some diplomatic staff and dependents would leave Iran. But it declined to say how many people were being removed or give other details.
"Ensuring the safety of our staff and their families is our immediate priority," said the statement. It noted some diplomatic work is ongoing, though the embassy is officially closed.
The Iranian government has expressed regret about "unacceptable behavior" of protesters, whose attacks began after anti-British demonstrations apparently authorized by authorities.
But Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that the "wrath of (students) resulted from several decades of domination-seeking behavior of Britain."
Larijani ? addressing an open session of parliament Wednesday ? also called the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of the embassy attack a "hasty move."
Larijani's comments reflect the deepening diplomatic crisis between Iran and Britain, whose relations have in the past gone through periods of upheavals. On Sunday, Iran's parliament approved a bill to downgrade relations with Britain, one of America's closest allies with diplomatic envoys in the Islamic Republic.
Larijani insisted that the decision to scale back relations needs to be carried out immediately. But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has remained silent and his representatives have publicly opposed parliament's decision.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said it must carry out the decision after the parliament vote was approved Monday by Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council.
Washington and Tehran have had no diplomatic relations since militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and held 52 hostages for 444 days. In the early moments of that siege, protesters tossed out papers from the compound and pulled down the U.S. flag.
Britain broke off relations with Iran after the Islamic Revolution and gradually restored during the 1990s.
China, which is one of Iran's key allies, refused to criticize Iran by name for the attack on the British compounds, but said "the security and dignity" of diplomatic missions should be protected.
British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired meetings of the British government crisis committee late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday and praised diplomats "who often face grave dangers, as they did yesterday in Tehran."
"We will consider taking some very tough action in response to this completely disgraceful and appalling action by the Iranians," Cameron told lawmakers Wednesday at the House of Commons.
About 24 British embassy staff and dependents are based in Tehran. All are adults since Britain will not post diplomats to Iran with small children for security reasons.
A senior Iranian police official, Ahmad Reza Radan, was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying some protesters who broke into the embassy have been identified and will be arrested. No figures were given. But the Fars news agency said 12 students have been arrested.
Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Hilde Steinfeld said the decision to close the embassy was taken late Tuesday, but diplomatic staff have not been evacuated from the Iran.
Steinfeld did not give further details, but said "the decision follows security concern ... in context with the attack on the British Embassy." Norway has four to five diplomatic staff deployed in the Iranian capital, she said.
Neighboring Sweden, which has not closed its embassy or evacuated staff from Tehran, also showed its disapproval of the attack by summoning the Iranian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm on Wednesday morning.
"Iran has a duty to protect diplomatic premises and authorities there should have intervened immediately," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Teo Zetterman said.
France's budget minister, Valerie Pecresse, said the attacks showed the need for stronger sanctions on Iran, which could include a possible total embargo on oil exports or the freeze of Iranian central bank holdings.
The assaults began after protest rallies organized by pro-government groups in universities and Islamic seminaries. It was not clear, however, if the attackers were mostly students or led by hard-line forces such as the basij paramilitary corps, which is run by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.
The attackers ripped down the Union Jack, torched an embassy vehicle and tossed looted documents before riot police eventually cleared the areas. "Death to England!" some cried outside the compound in the first significant assault of a foreign diplomatic area in Iran in years.
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Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press Writers Robert Barr in London, Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm and Jenny Barchfield in Paris contributed to this report.
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