(London) At least five police officers were “seriously injured” and 12 people arrested on Sunday during incidents on the sidelines of a demonstration near the Iranian embassy in London, after the death of a young woman detained by morality police in Tehran.
Posted yesterday at 6:51 p.m.
London police said officers were deployed near the embassy on Sunday as ‘large gatherings’ had passed peacefully in the British capital in recent days following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, arrested on September 13 by the morality police for “wearing inappropriate clothing”.
Videos on social networks notably showed a crowd chanting “death to the Islamic Republic”.
While the “majority of those present at the embassy on Sunday continued to behave responsibly”, a “significant” group “sought to attack the police and protesters with whom they were not okay,” Scotland Yard said in a statement on Sunday evening.
Law enforcement units equipped with helmets and shields have been deployed, continues the London police.
The incidents first broke out around the embassy before moving to the areas of Marble Arch and Maida Vale, where the Islamic Center of England was “targeted”.
The police were able to “ensure the security of the building”, but in doing so they came under fire from projectiles.
At least five members of the police have been hospitalized, including for broken bones, according to the police, who made 12 arrests for participation in violent disorders.
“We respect the right to peaceful protest and always work with organizers to make this possible. But we will not tolerate attacks on our officers like we have seen today or protests that leave other communities feeling insecure,” said Karen Findlay, of London Police.
“We have already made a number of arrests, but we know that there are people who have not been arrested this evening who have committed serious offences,” she continued, warning that the police would use CCTV and other recordings to identify them.
In Paris, police used tear gas to prevent thousands of people marching against Iran’s crackdown on protests from reaching the Islamic Republic’s embassy.