German FM Says Salehi 'Deeply Sorry' for UK Embassy Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi Sunday expressed deep regret over the storming of the British embassy in Tehran and pledged to prevent future attacks, the German foreign ministry said.

"On the issue of the attack on the British embassy in Tehran, the Iranian foreign minister expressed that he was deeply sorry for what has happened," the ministry said in a statement, recounting a meeting between Salehi and his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.

"He assured to do everything to prevent such an incident from happening again," the ministry said in a statement issued in English.

"Foreign Minister Westerwelle made clear that such an attack against the diplomatic mission of a single EU member state is perceived as being directed against the missions of all EU member states."

Salehi is due to attend a key international conference on the future of Afghanistan in Bonn on Monday.

Hundreds of protesters invaded and trashed the embassy and a second British diplomatic compound last Tuesday. British officials have said the ransacking of the embassy could only have occurred with the consent of Iran's leaders.