An anti-regime protester climbed the balcony of Iran’s embassy in London and replaced the official flag with a pre-revolution symbol, drawing cheers from supporters gathered outside.
An anti-regime protester climbed onto the balcony of Iran’s embassy in London on Friday and replaced the country’s official flag with the pre-1979 “Lion and Sun” emblem, drawing loud cheers from a crowd gathered outside.
Video footage showed the protester scaling the embassy building in Kensington before tearing down the Islamic Republic’s flag and hoisting the historic symbol linked to Iran’s monarchy before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrators below responded with applause and chants.
Police response and arrests
The Metropolitan Police said officers were deployed to the scene and made two arrests. One individual was detained on suspicion of aggravated trespass and assault on an emergency worker, while another was arrested for aggravated trespass.
Police said they were also searching for a third person in connection with trespassing. It remains unclear whether the individual who removed the flag was among those detained.
Iran’s embassy in London did not respond to requests for comment.
Protests spread beyond Iran
The protest in London comes as Iran faces what observers describe as its most serious wave of unrest in years. Demonstrations that began on December 28 over economic grievances have since spread across the country, evolving into a broader challenge to the clerical leadership.
US President Donald Trump has warned Iran’s leadership that the United States would protect protesters if necessary.
British-Iranian journalist Potkin Azarmehr said the current unrest marks a significant shift from previous protest movements, including the 2009 Green Movement.
“What a contrast to Obama’s time, when protesters in Iran were chanting, ‘Obama, are you with us or with them?’” Azarmehr told Fox News Digital.
“Any international support, whether at the grassroots or government level, is encouraging,” he said.
However, Azarmehr questioned the lack of visible support from Western activist groups.
“The question is where are the Western activist elite protesters? Why are they not protesting? Are they on the side of the ayatollahs? An archaic religious apartheid?” he asked.
Rising toll and global response
Solidarity protests with Iranian demonstrators have been held in several European cities, including Paris and Berlin. A separate protest also took place outside the White House in Washington, DC.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 72 people have been killed and more than 2,300 people detained in Iran since the unrest began.
Some protests inside Iran have featured chants in support of the country’s former monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in 1980. His son, Reza Pahlavi, has publicly urged Iranians to continue protesting.
Iranian authorities have also imposed nationwide internet shutdowns, intensifying criticism from rights groups as the unrest continues to spread.
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