TEHRAN, May 23: An estimated 400 people, some throwing firecrackers, demonstrated on Sunday for the fourth time in little over a week outside the British embassy in Iran against the actions of US-led forces in Iraq, witnesses said.

A Reuters journalist at the scene saw at least two firecrackers and several tomatoes thrown at the embassy by the crowd of mostly students as they chanted "Death to Britain, Death to America."

Riot police with batons and shields prevented the crowd from getting close to the main gate of the embassy. About a dozen people were arrested as police tried to disperse the crowd. About 100 of the demonstrators refused to move and staged a sit-in in front of the embassy.

Three protests at the embassy last week turned ugly with demonstrators hurling petrol bombs, firecrackers and stones at the large diplomatic compound in central Tehran.

No one was hurt in those incidents. "The British embassy must be closed down. Its mercenary ambassador must be expelled," the crowd chanted on Sunday. -Reuters