Washington — Iran is obligated under the Vienna Convention to protect the security and safety of foreign diplomats, U.S. officials said in response to the storming of two British diplomatic sites in Tehran.

In his remarks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the White House November 29, President Obama said, “We’re deeply concerned about that situation and we expect to see some sort of definitive action sometime very quickly.”

Press reports from earlier in the day described Iranian protesters throwing petrol bombs, smashing windows, looting and burning an embassy vehicle after breaking into two British embassy compounds in Tehran.

“That kind of behavior is not acceptable,” Obama said. “I strongly urge the Iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task. They have a responsibility to protect diplomatic outposts. That is a basic international obligation that all countries need to observe.”

“For rioters, essentially, to be able to overrun the embassy and set it on fire is an indication that the Iranian government is not taking its international obligations seriously,” the president said.

At the State Department, spokesman Mark Toner told reporters November 29 that Americans “join with the U.K. government in expressing our outrage,” and that the Obama administration remains in close contact with British authorities and with other international partners.

Right now, Toner said, it is important to establish that “all of the personnel within the embassy are accounted for and safe.”

Iran needs to uphold its obligations under the Vienna Convention to protect the security and safety of diplomats in Tehran, he said, and the day’s incidents are “another example of Iran’s disregard for its international obligations.”

Asked if the Iranian government could have played a role in the protests, a senior State Department official who asked not to be identified said it is “hard to imagine” that the protests had simply been “spontaneous.”