Four police officers injured and 14 arrested after ‘violent’ clashes outside Iran’s London embassy
The Met Police said missiles were fired at officers after protests outside Iran’s London embassy turned violent.
Four police officers were slightly injured in the Friday evening clash, according to the force, which arrested 14 people on suspicion of crimes including violent disorder and trespassing.
One protester managed to cross multiple balconies, get to the roof of the Embassy and raise the flag. Police later arrested him on suspicion of criminal damage.
Four people were taken to hospital after the London Ambulance Service was called to the events in South Kensington at 20.45.
The Metropolitan Police said in a post on
“He has since been arrested by police officers on suspicion of criminal damage, trespassing on diplomatic property and assaulting police.
“A section 35 warrant was issued due to ongoing unrest, including missiles being fired at police officers. Several officers were injured.”
This comes after weeks of protests in Iran sparked by inflation and the country’s cost of living crisis.
Donald Trump has threatened military intervention in Iran following reports that the regime will execute hundreds of people in a deadly crackdown on protests. However, the USA seems to have stepped back from the attacks in recent days.
At least 2,637 people have been killed and nearly 20,000 arrested in Iran, according to the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency.
The protests began after the Iranian rial fell to 1.42 million against the US dollar (a new record low), sparking a widening economic crisis.
Prices of meat, rice and other staples have increased. The country is struggling with an annual inflation rate of up to 40 percent.
While the protests initially focused on economic issues, protesters soon made anti-government statements and called for the overthrow of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
A nationwide internet outage was reported in Iran on Thursday, January 14, according to internet monitoring group Netblocks. Iranians abroad said they could not communicate with their families due to the restrictions imposed.
