Plan to repair raid embassy

Press, 9 May 1983, Page 10

Plan to repair raid embassy

NZPA London The British Government is reportedly prepared to pay £1 million (JNZ2.37 million) to repair the Iranian Embassy in London — still lying in ruins after the daring Special Air Service rescue raid three years ago. According to the “Sunday Telegraph,” reconstruction of the building in Princes Gate depends, however, on the Iranians paying £ 500,000 towards restora-

tion of the British Embassy in Teheran which has been closed since students ransacked it. The spectacular S.A.S. raid in May 1980, which was shown on television around the world, caused extensive damage to the Iranian Embassy. Explosives used during the raid are responsible for much of the damage, although exposure to weather, rot and vandalism have also taken their toll. Immediately after the

raid, the British Foreign Office disclaimed responsibility for repair work, but lawyers for the Iranians argued that security had been lax. The Iranians also cite an article in the Vienna Convention stating that “appropriate steps” should be taken by a Government to protect a mission against any “intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.”