Embassy of Iran, London

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Embassy of Iran in London
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, London (2016) 09.JPG
Embassy of Iran, London
Location South Kensington, London
Address16 Prince's Gate, London, SW7 1PT
Coordinates 51°30′5.5″N0°10′20.4″W / 51.501528°N 0.172333°W / 51.501528; -0.172333 Coordinates: 51°30′5.5″N0°10′20.4″W / 51.501528°N 0.172333°W / 51.501528; -0.172333
Ambassador Mohsen Baharvand

The Embassy of Iran in London is the diplomatic mission of Iran in the United Kingdom. [1] It is located in a terrace overlooking Hyde Park in South Kensington, Westminster, London, next to the embassy of Ethiopia. [1] Iran also maintains a Consular Section at 50 Kensington Court, South Kensington. [1] The embassy building, along with the Ethiopian Embassy and the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, is one of a group of Grade II listed stucco buildings. [2]

The embassy was the location of the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in which members of the Iranian-Arab nationalist group the Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan seized the building for several days before being overrun by the SAS. [3] The embassy was severely damaged during the siege and did not re-open until 1993. [3]

Following the 2011 attack on the British Embassy in Iran, the British government expelled all Iranian embassy staff and closed the embassy in protest, alleging government support for the attack. [4] Between 2011 and 2014, Iranian interests in the UK were represented by the Omani Embassy. [5] Anglo-Iranian relations have improved since the election of President Hassan Rouhani and the countries made plans to re-open the embassy. [6]

On February 20, 2014, the Embassy was restored and the two countries agreed to restart diplomatic relations. [7]

On March 9, 2018, four people from Khoddam Al-Mahdi were arrested after climbing onto the first-floor balcony of the Embassy and taking down the Iranian flag in an apparent protest against the government in Tehran due to the arrest of the Islamic scholar Hussein al-Shirazi in Qom three days earlier. [8] [9]

On September 25, 2022, there were angry protests outside the Embassy, mostly by the Iranian diaspora in the United Kingdom, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 16. Demonstrators waved the pre-1979 Iranian flag and chanted "Death to the Islamic Republic". Five Metropolitan Police officers were injured and twelve arrests were made. [10]

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On 16 September 2022, the 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had a heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality, which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality, in addition to leaked medical scans, led some observers to believe Amini had a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest.

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Civil unrest and protests against the government of Iran associated with the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini began on 16 September 2022 and are ongoing as of May 2023. Amini had been arrested by the Guidance Patrol for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory hijab law by wearing her hijab "improperly" while visiting Tehran from Saqqez. According to eyewitnesses, she had been severely beaten by Guidance Patrol officers, an assertion denied by Iranian authorities. As the protests spread from Amini's hometown of Saqqez to other cities in the Iranian Kurdistan and throughout Iran, the government responded with widespread Internet blackouts, nationwide restrictions on social media usage, tear gas and gunfire.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaths during the Mahsa Amini protests</span> People killed due to protests in Iran

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Mohsen Shekari</span> Iranian man executed by the state due to Mahsa Amini protests

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The Neighbourhood Youth Alliance of Iran or United Youth of Iran is an alliance of 30 local grassroots groups of Iranian youth created during the Mahsa Amini protests in late 2022. The Alliance organises protests and aims to overthrow the Islamic Republic, replacing it by a secular state that respects international human rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aida Rostami</span> Iranian physician (died 2022)

Aida Rostami was a 36-year-old Iranian physician who was allegedly kidnapped, fatally beaten, and killed by security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran for treating protesters who were injured during the Mahsa Amini protests. In light of rising demands and threats on Iranian hospitals and medics to assist security forces in the middle of the protests, Aida Rostami has emerged as an inspirational figure among medics associated with the Mahsa Amini protests.

Events in the year 2023 in Iran, which is dominated by protests.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The London Diplomatic List" (PDF). 14 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2013.
  2. Historic England, "16 Prince's Gate (1265482)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 14 July 2016
  3. 1 2 "Iran and the hostage-takers". BBC News. 26 April 2000. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  4. "Britain expels Iranian diplomats and closes Tehran embassy". 30 November 2011. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  5. "Oman 'looking after Iran interests in UK'". Trade Arabia. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  6. "Britain revives ties with Iran, two years after embassy attack". 11 November 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  7. "Britain Iran resume Diplomatic Ties as Iranian Embassy restored in London". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  8. "Four arrested after balcony protest at Iranian embassy in London". Reuters. 9 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  9. "Iranian embassy STORMED by four men to 'TAKE DOWN NATIONAL FLAG' in PROTEST". 10 March 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  10. "Protesters and police clash outside Iranian embassy in London amid outcry over Mahsa Amini's death". Sky News. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.