![]() ![]() He had been imprisoned by SAVAK, the Shah's secret police, and bore scars which he said were from torture in SAVAK custody. Oan was 27 and from Khūzestān he had studied at the University of Tehran, where he became politically active. Over the following days, the group swelled, with up to a dozen men in the flat on one occasion. They claimed they had met by chance on the flight. Using Iraqi passports, Oan and three other members of the DRFLA arrived in London on 31 March 1980 and rented a flat in Earl's Court, West London. The plan was inspired by the Iran hostage crisis in which supporters of the revolution held the staff of the American embassy in Tehran hostage. Īccording to Oan Ali Mohammed, suppression of the Arab sovereignty movement was the spark that led to his desire to attack the Iranian Embassy in London. The oil-rich area had become the source of much of Iran's wealth, having been developed by multi-national companies during the reign of the Shah. The hostage-takers were members of the Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan (DRFLA), Iranian Arabs protesting for the establishment of an autonomous Arab state in the southern region of the Iranian province of Khūzestān which is home to an Arabic-speaking minority. The SAS raid, televised live on a bank holiday evening, became a defining moment in British history and proved a career boost for several journalists it became the subject of multiple documentaries and works of fiction, including several films and television series. The building, damaged by fire during the assault, was not reopened until 1993. The SAS was quickly overwhelmed by the number of applications it received from people inspired by the operation and experienced greater demand for its expertise from foreign governments. The operation brought the SAS to the public eye for the first time and bolstered the reputation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government. The sole remaining gunman served 27 years in British prisons. An inquest cleared the SAS of any wrongdoing. During the 17-minute raid they rescued all but one of the remaining hostages and killed five of the six hostage-takers. The Special Air Service (SAS), a special forces regiment of the British Army, initiated " Operation Nimrod" to rescue the remaining hostages, abseiling from the roof and forcing entry through the windows. That evening, they killed a hostage and threw his body out of the embassy. Subsequently, police negotiators secured the release of five hostages in exchange for minor concessions, such as the broadcasting of the hostage-takers' demands on British television.īy the sixth day of the siege the gunmen were increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress in meeting their demands. The British government quickly decided that safe passage would not be granted and a siege ensued. They demanded the release of prisoners in Khuzestan and their own safe passage out of the United Kingdom. The gunmen, Iranian Arabs campaigning for sovereignty of Khuzestan Province, took 26 people hostage, including embassy staff, several visitors, and a police officer who had been guarding the embassy. The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy on Prince's Gate in South Kensington, London.
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