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30
April 1980 - Gunman Take Over the Iranian Embassy in Kensington
Iranian Terrorists demanding a homeland for their region in Iran seized the Iranian Embassy in London. In the latter part of the morning, the staff of the Embassy had been attending to routine tasks when, at 11:32, the sharp crack of gunfire was noticed and six gunmen pushed their way through the front door and into the Embassy foyer. At the door, on duty was Police Constable Trevor Lock of Scotland Yard's Diplomatic Protection Group. He was roughly grabbed, and hauled inside by the gunmen. Just prior to being taken down, Lock activated an emergency call with his lapel radio, and with that began the siege that was to last six days and utilized both police and military.
The Terrorist gunmen hailed from the Khuzistan province of Iran and stated their seizure of the Embassy was to draw attention from the world to the Khuzistani people's disapproval of the Ayatollahs new regime in Iran and their plea for a self-governing state of their own. By seizing the Embassy they sought to gain western pressure on the Iranian government to do just that, while threatening Iranian diplomats and citizens to push Iran to act. The hostages were 26 originally, and included the Embassy staff headed by Chargé d'Affaires, Dr. Gholam Ali Afouz along with nine visitors including two British BBC officials. The gunmen killed two hostages: Abbas Lavasani, the Embassy Press Attache, and Ali Akhbar Samadzadeh, a temporary worker in the office. It was the murder of the first man that set in motion preparation for the SAS assault, as it is standard operating procedure that once hostages start to be executed, a military solution to bring the incident to an end must be instituted.
The terrorists had an array of weapons at their disposal. Two Belgian M2 9mm submachine guns, Browning pistols, a .38 revolver and several Chinese hand grenades. They appeared well organized and ready to be "martyred" for their cause. The leader was known only as Oan, and the rest were Hassan, Faisal, Makki, Shai, and Ali; six in all. After the death of Lavasani, the terrorists announced another execution would take place every 30 minutes until their demands were met. The demands were for Oan to meet with the three Arab ambassadors in London and safe passage out of Britain for the terrorists.
At 12:09 pm, Deputy assistant Police Commissioner John Dellow arrived at the embassy to take charge of the policemen who had rushed to the scene. At 2:25 the Anti-Terrorist squad (C13) drove up lead by their commander Peter Duffy. Units of Scotland Yard's Special Patrol Group (A9) arrived at the same time. Other units were quickly on the scene - the Technical Support Branch (C7) which specializes in electronic surveillance systems and an Army Bomb Disposal Squad.
The SAS had been alerted almost as soon as the police. Dusty Gray, a former SAS NCO who worked as a dog-handler for the Metropolitan Police call to say that terrorist had taken over the Iranian Embassy. He just happened to be outside the Embassy at this point! The Counter Revolutionary Warfare Team (CRW) was scrambled immediately, most of whom were at that moment practicing room clearing techniques inside the SAS Killing House. The Team immediately made its way to London, possibly without being given the proper clearance. Although the Police denied it on the second day when asked by reporters, SAS soldiers in plain-clothes were seen scouting the area in Landrovers. During "Day One" the SAS fixed ropes to the Embassy Roof to aid in an eventual assault.
An SAS team is stationed permanently in London and is responsible to Scotland Yard and ultimately the Home Secretary for its deployment. The SAS is under strict guide lines when on operations within the UK. They are well aware that they can be prosecuted if they proceed beyond what might be construed as excessive force. They walk a fine line between protecting themselves and civilians and appearing in court for doing this job. The situation must be judged as completely suitable to turn over operations to the SAS which is a military unit.
On Day One the SAS were planning a course of action at a London Barracks situated on the edge of Regents Park in Albany Street which is principally known for its fashionable block of apartments named the White House. The planners, attached to the Police Special Branch, devised a bold rescue operation. The British Caretaker of the Embassy proved to be a wealth of knowledge about the building, and in addition, Chris Cramer, one of the BBC men was released from the Embassy and provided information on the numbers and location of the terrorists. Next door to the Embassy was No. 16 Princess Gate, an attractive mid-Victorian town house stuccoed in the Italian style consisted of five floors rising 80 feet from the basement, perfect for mounting an attack. The Terrorists were cognizant of the possibility of attack from the roof tops, and where the skylight was located they had blocked off the top attic floor with furniture There were plenty of windows to the Embassy, but they were bullet proof and would prove difficult to get through.
Speed was the essence of the plan of attack. Photos of the hostages were passed around and the interior plans studied so the operators could differentiate the terrorists and kill them upon entering the building. The plan was for three teams to enter the building, each team consisting of four men each. Two squads were assigned to the roof where the ropes had already been made fast to the chimneys. Their task was to rappel down the ropes in the rear of the building and land simultaneously at two levels - the ground and the first floor balcony. Meanwhile the third team was to was to assault the first floor balcony using scaling ladders in the front of the building next door.
Each team was equipped with a "frame Charge" packed with plastic explosives, designed to stick on the frame around the windows and cut with violent precision. In addition to their Heckler & Koch HK MP5 submachine guns, each man carried a 9mm Browning, and at least one carried a Colt .45. The were also equipped with stun grenades, known as "flash-bangs", magnesium loaded grenades that create a brilliant flash of light and powerful bang but are not harmful to the victims. The case of the grenade splits, but does not fragment, avoiding shrapnel. These grenades can incapacitate any one in their path for several seconds and are ideal for this type of situation. as was proven by the SAS and GSG-9 in Mogadishu.
As the siege wore on, the SAS discovered from police secret transmitters that most if not all the hostages were being held in two groups on the second floor. The assault team were moved to the building next door to the Embassy to await the order to attack. On the evening of May 2nd, a recconaisance of the roof was made and it was discovered that the skylight was movable. Now it was just a matter of waiting until negotiations broke down and something drastic occurred. The assault team got more and more closed in as the time wore on, endlessly studying a mock-up of the embassy and rehearsing their individual roles in their minds. Years of continuous training would soon be put to the test.
On May 5th at 1:31, the Police reported gunshots had been heard from the embassy. At 6:50 more shots were fired and the body of a hostage was pushed through the front door. William Whitelaw, the Home Secretary, who had presided over the Cabinet crisis committee since the beginning of the siege, on learning the terrorists had begun killing the hostages gave the order for the assault to commence. At 7:07 pm the senior policeman on the scene handed Mike Rose, the commander of 22nd SAS a signed piece of paper which effectively handed control of the situation over to the SAS. The police negotiator still spoke with Oan about his demands, but now the situation was in the hands of the military.
Ever since the first shots were fired the assault team remained at constant readiness. Their gear was packed and checked and rechecked.
At 7:20 pm a television camera caught a group of black-hooded figures emerging from the skylight at the building next door to the Embassy. At 7:23 demolition charges went off at the front and CS gas was pumped inside through the broken windows. Three minutes later two men in the rear force stepped over the edge of the Embassy roof descending by the absailing techniques used since the war in Malaya. The first mishap occurred when an upper floor window was shattered by a misdirected boot. The trooper reported the matter to the Control via his microphone inside his respirator, and was told to continue through his ear-piece microphone. As the Ground Floor Assault team rushed forward with shaped charges to smash the the windows The saw above them the form of one of the troopers, a Fijian who had become tangled in his harness dangling above them, and preventing the blowing of the charges. He was already being burnt by the flames coming from the building. He was cut down and the entry made through the front door with the aid of a sledge hammer.
Inside the Embassy, the terrorist were well aware that they were under attack. The leader Oan took aim at one of the SAS men entering the building when he was tackled by the police Constable Lock and wrestled to the ground. During the struggle Lock drew the .38 pistol he had concealed the whole time and tried to no avail to kill the terrorist. As they struggled violently, the SAS burst into the room, one of them commanding Lock to "leave off". Lock rolled aside and Oan took aim at him and was killed by a controlled burst of fire from the troopers MP5. the terrorists began to fire wildly and shot one of the hostages through the face and wounding two other hostages. When the SAS burst in on them the terrorists threw away their weapons and tried to hide among the hostages, a few of which tried to shelter them in a classic "Stockholm Syndrome" scenario. The SAS shouted for the hostages to reveal the terrorists which happened right away, and the gunmen were shot where they were to prevent detonation of any boobytraps or firing of concealed weapons.
Upstairs the last terrorist was shot after locking himself in a room. The SAS blasted locked doors to ensure no more gunmen were in the building as they cleared all the rooms. The hostages were all passed unceremoniously out the doors and secured with cuffs to ensure none were terrorists until a search could be conducted. Ali was the only gunman to get out alive. The female hostages were reluctant to identify him for fear of his being gunned down, and this job was done by the BBC man Sim Harris.
By 8:15 the SAS job was done and they disappeared in hired vans to celebrate their huge success. They attended a party with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, drank beer and champagne and watched the taped assault on television.
from http://home.istar.ca/~overlord/welcome.html
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