The Iranian Embassy Siege
By Ross Forbes, Blockbuster.co.uk

We know the images, they appear at the beginning of our documentaries and news programmes, but do we really know what they are about? What is the story behind the images of men in black abseiling down the side of a white-pillared building and storming in through the windows?

On the 30th of April 1980 and for 5 days following, the world sat on the edge of their seats and held their breath. The Iranian Embassy situated in Princes Gate, London had been invaded. An armed terrorist group, calling themselves the ‘Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan’ had forced their way into the Embassy. Twenty-Six hostages were taken as the group secured the building, their lives hung in the balance as the terrorists waited to see if their demands would be met.

As the days passed the British public watched as Anna Ford and the BBC calmly talked a nation through the unfolding crisis. As the days ticked slowly by, the tension grew inside and outside of the Embassy, until they decided escalate the situation and in an effort to make sure they were taken seriously, they executed Abbas Lavasni. When the press attaché’s body was thrown from the building Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made the decision that the situation cannot be allowed to continue.

On May 5th at 7:23 within half an hour of the execution of the hostage, the Counter Revolutionary arm of the SAS began their raid on the Iranian Embassy and the BBC filmed what was to be a terrifying and historic television broadcast.

This fascinating and very well produced documentary relives the horrific events of those 6 days in May 1980. It sheds more light on the situation as we can now look back in hindsight and find out what was happening both behind the scenes in the government and in the Embassy itself.

You will never look at those images in the same way again. After watching the documentary they no longer simply just become the pictures at the beginning of the news. It was when a nation held its breath for six days.

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