Violent street protests erupted outside the Iranian embassy in London on Sunday, with rocks thrown at police and five protesters arrested. Large crowds have been gathering all week outside the Knightsbridge compound in protest against the death in Iranian police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran. She had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly breaking headscarf rules and died on Sept. 16. London’s Metropolitan Police said that “a substantial group” of the large crowd were “intent on causing disorder” and confirmed that reinforcements had been called in when protesters tried to break police lines and storm towards the embassy compound.
Demonstrators hold placards outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A number of police officers were injured in the skirmishes though none seriously, and some arrests were made for violent disorder.
Police stand guard outside the Iranian Embassy after a small group of protesters threw paint at the building in London, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The London street protest comes at a time of growing hostility between Britain and Iran over the death in custody of Amini. The Iranian police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.
Police stand guard outside the Iranian Embassy after a small group of protesters threw paint at the building in London, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Demonstrators hold placards outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Iran said it considers the news agencies’ reporting to be interference in Iran’s internal affairs and acts against its sovereignty.
Demonstrators hold placards outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The beefed-up police operation in the vicinity of the Iranian Embassy in London’s Princes Gate will remain in place.
Police stand guard outside the Iranian Embassy after a small group protesters threw paint at the building in London, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, who died in Iran while in police custody, was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Iran summons UK envoy amid anti-government protests
Newslooks- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday it summoned Britain’s ambassador to protest what it described as a hostile atmosphere created by London-based Farsi language media outlets. The move comes amid violent unrest in Iran triggered by the death of a young woman in police custody.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported the ministry also summoned Norway’s ambassador to Iran and strongly protested recent remarks by the president of the Norwegian parliament, Masud Gharahkhani.
Members of the Iranian community and their supporters rally in solidarity with protesters in Iran, after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab, in Ottawa, Ontario, on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody after being detained by Iranian morality police launched unrest across Iran’s provinces and the capital of Tehran.
Protests over Amini’s death have spread across at least 46 cities, towns and villages in Iran. State TV has suggested that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since the protests began Sept. 17. An Associated Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 13 dead, with more than 1,200 demonstrators arrested.
FILE – Exile Iranians of the National Council of Resistance of Iran gather in front of the embassy of Iran in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 20, 2022 after the death of an Iranian woman held by the country’s morality police. The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police after the death in custody of a woman who’d been accused of wearing her Islamic headgear too loosely. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
Running clashes between demonstrators and security forces have continued to erupt. A member of the Basij, a volunteer force with Iran’s Guards, was killed by protesters last night in Tehran, semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday. Another Basij member, who was in a coma since Thursday after street clashes, died in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province on Sunday, IRNA reported.
FILE – In this Sept. 19, 2022, photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, a police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of a young woman who had been detained for violating the country’s conservative dress code, in downtown Tehran, Iran. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, that it summoned Britain’s ambassador to protest what it described as a hostile atmosphere created by London-based Farsi language media outlets, amid violent unrest in Iran triggered by the death of the young woman in police custody. (AP Photo, File)
The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website said it summoned Simon Shercliff, the U.K.’s ambassador to Iran, on Saturday and protested the hosting of critical Farsi-language media outlets. The ministry alleges the news outlets have provoked disturbances and the spread of riots in Iran at the top of their programs.
FILE – Kurdish women activists hold headscarfs and a portrait of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, with Arabic that reads, “The woman is life, don’t kill the life,” during a protest against her death in Iran, at Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, Sept. 21, 2022. The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police after the death in custody of a woman who’d been accused of wearing her Islamic headgear too loosely. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
Iran said it considers the news agencies’ reporting to be interference in Iran’s internal affairs and acts against its sovereignty.
The crisis in Iran began as a public outpouring of anger over the the death of Amini, who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf too loosely. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.
Pro-government demonstrators attend a rally condemning recent anti-government protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by the nation’s morality police, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Amini’s death has sparked sharp condemnation from Western countries and the United Nations, as well as protests in solidarity abroad. On Sunday, violent street demonstrations erupted outside the Iranian embassy in London, with rocks thrown at police and five protesters arrested. A number of police officers were injured in the skirmishes though none seriously.
Iranian pro-government demonstrators attend a rally after their Friday prayers to condemn recent anti-government protests over the death of a young woman in police custody as they hold Iranian flags and a poster of the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone attack in 2020, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. The crisis unfolding in Iran began as a public outpouring over the the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman from a northwestern Kurdish town who was arrested by the country’s morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Pro-government rallies were also held on Sunday in several cities across Iran. Thousands attended a rally in the capital’s Enghelab, or Revolution Square, waving Iranian flags. Some officials, including cabinet spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, attended to the rally in Tehran.
