Petrolbombs and rocks have been thrown at the British embassy in
About 200people also threw firecrackers at the embassy on Sunday and calledfor the expulsion of Geoffrey Adams, Britain's ambassador.
Theprotesters chanted "death to
'Balancedstance'
Witnessessaid demonstrators approached a barrier near the embassy and crossed into linesof police before being pushed back.
ManouchehrMottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, said on state television his governmentwas waiting for
TheIranians have demanded an apology which acknowledges the British troopsillegally entered
The Britishmilitary said the shots heard came from a British convoy that was ambushed inthe same street as the consulate in central
In his first commetns on the capture of the Royal Navysailors George Bush, the
Bush said at a news conference: "I support theBlair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully. And I support the primeminister when he made it clear there were no quid pro quos. The Iranians mustgive back the hostages.
"The British hostages issue is a serious issuebecause the Iranians took these people out of Iraqi water, and it's inexcusablebehaviour."
Ali Reza, Al Jazeera's correspondent in
Reza said: "Demands from the European Union thatthey are freed immediately and unconditionally are only antagonising thesituation".
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranianforeign ministry, said: "The recent stance of the European Union officialsregarding this issue will not help in solving the problem, but instead it willcomplicate the issue and might even make it last even longer."
Mediation offer
Terry Waite, who was heldcaptive for almost five years in
Waite said:"I would hope that the Iranians would behave in thesame courteous way to me as they've behaved before, would perhaps give meaccess to the people they've detained just to be assured of their welfare, sothat that could be conveyed to their families, and begin to see if we can finda sensible way through this problem."
Reza said