Obama urges Iran to punish British embassy rioters

US: US President Barack Obama called on Iran to take "definitive action" and hold to account as soon as possible those responsible for overrunning the British embassy in Tehran on Tuesday.

Young men chanting "Death to Britain" entered the property, trashing offices, stealing documents and violently defying police efforts to remove them for several hours.

"It's important to just note that all of us, I think, are deeply disturbed by the crashing of the English embassy, the embassy of the United Kingdom in Iran," Obama told journalists at the White House.

"That kind of behavior is not acceptable, and I strongly urge the Iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task."

The incursions, which sparked international alarm and raised tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program, only came to an end after several hours when special police units were deployed. AFP