Iranian embassy siege commando dies

A former UK Special Air Service soldier who took part in the 1980 storming of the Iranian embassy in London has died.

Mel Parry, who served nearly 20 years in the SAS, was one of a team of 32 commandos who rescued 26 people from the embassy after they were held hostage for six days by six armed Iranian-Arab men demanding independence for the Iranian province of Khuzestan.

Parry was one of the last surviving members of the squad, which famously stormed and liberated the embassy in just 17 minutes. One hostage was killed, and five of the six gunmen died in the operation.