Seven Iranians charged with assault in UK after embassy protest clash
Seven Iranian men have appeared in court in the UK after being charged with assaulting a pro-government protestor outside Tehran's embassy in London last week.
The men, aged between 30 and 50, were charged with grievous bodily harm after two people were allegedly attacked near the embassy on Friday morning.
The defendants' lawyers told Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday that the seven men were opponents of Iran's government and had received threats before the incident, according to UK media reports.
Prosecutor Rachel Hughes said the defendants had been taking part in a pro-royalist protest outside the Iranian embassy against the current government in Tehran.
An Iranian flag was placed on the ground and one man "knelt and kissed that flag before running off with it", Hughes told the court.
"All the defendants chased after the victim and participated in an attack over a six-minute period," she said.
The victim suffered serious injuries including broken ribs, a broken ankle and a suspected bleed on the brain and remains in hospital, Hughes told the court.
The defendants were refused bail ahead of their next court appearance at Southwark Crown Court on 21 July, media reported.
The incident happened a week after Israel launched its surprise attack on Iran, which sparked a daily exchange of missile and drone fire between the two regional rivals.
A truce in the 12-day conflict was announced early on Tuesday morning by US President Donald Trump after Tehran launched a limited missile attack on a US military base in Qatar on Monday in response to Washington's strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
However, the ceasefire reportedly faltered just hours later when Israel vowed to retaliate after saying that Iran launched missiles into its airspace in violation of the agreement.
Iran's military denied firing on Israel, according to state media, but explosions and sirens sounded across northern Israel mid-morning on Tuesday.
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France 24
an hour ago
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Israel's Netanyahu vows to block Iran 'nuclear weapon' as he declares victory
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France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Israel: Arab-Israelis face unequal access to bomb shelters
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You feel at home and at the same time like a stranger. You're no longer welcome. This isn't an isolated incident. Since the initial Iranian attacks on June 13, several videos have been circulating on social media, showing scenes where individuals are being turned away or prevented from entering Israeli shelters. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Ofer Cassif, an Israeli lawmaker for the left-wing Hadash-Taal alliance: Since the war with Iran began, there have been daily cases of people who have to run to shelters because of the sirens. Almost every day, there are cases of people who are not allowed into a shelter. Cases have been reported, mainly involving Arab citizens, but also foreign workers, families from Ukraine, and people with pets. These incidents don't just involve Israeli-Arabs. A family was not allowed because they had children. Other people were rejected because they came from another building. It's illegal to refuse or disallow someone from entering a shelter, even if it's in a private building. You must allow it, as required by law. On June 19, Cassif took to X to call on the Home Front Command – the Israeli military unit responsible for civilian protection – to establish a dedicated hotline for reporting instances where individuals are denied access to shelters during alerts. In his letter, he condemned a 'fundamentally flawed phenomenon that primarily affects the weaker sections of society and minority groups that suffer from severe protection and integration problems, and from racial and social discrimination'. While these discriminatory acts target foreign workers, Arab-Israelis, and even other Israelis, Cassif said that 'most of the dozen or so cases documented primarily involved Arab citizens'. Unequal protections for Arab and Israeli communities An Iranian missile strike in Tamra, northern Israel, killed four women and injured about a dozen people on June 14. Cassif said: In this Arab city of nearly 40,000 residents, there are no public shelters. Just a few kilometres away, there is a Jewish community of fewer than 10,000 people, and they have more than 10 shelters. In Israel, there are about 9 to 10 million people, and about two and a half million don't have a shelter or even a secure room to go to. So it's definitely a problem, mainly for Arabs, but not only. This is an issue of institutionalised racial discrimination. A 2018 report by the Israeli State Comptroller on the protection of non-Jewish civilians found that 46% of Arab citizens in Israel lack access to adequate shelters, compared to 26% of the general population. Several Israeli NGOs, including Sikkuy-Aufoq, an organisation dedicated to promoting equality and partnership between Jewish and Arab-Palestinian citizens, have for years condemned these structural inequalities in civil protection. Sikkuy-Aufoq highlights a substantial gap in access to public shelters. 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Regardless of their legal status, living conditions remain extremely precarious. Marwan Abu Frieh, a regional coordinator for the Negev region and a field researcher at Adalah, told our team: 'More than 12,000 shelters would be needed to properly protect these communities.' The NGO, aided by other Israeli and foreign organisations, managed to gather only 350. Facing a complete lack of assistance from the Israeli government, local organisations like Adallah and municipalities are stepping up to build mobile shelters, each costing a minimum of 50,000 shekels (12,000 to 14,000 US dollars). Abu Frieh continued: Since October 7, they have been trying to find solutions by themselves. They go under the bridge of the highway. They try to put containers in the ground to use them as shelters for children, the elderly, mothers… Many Bedouins have nothing. Without internet on your phone, you can't even receive siren alerts. And if you don't have a shelter, you have nowhere to take refuge. Children are afraid, men and women too. People run under the bridge when sirens come. Some of them stay there day and night. But over 130,000 people remain without any protection or aid because the government refuses to intervene in unrecognised villages, which it deems to have no legal status. All construction in these communities is deemed illegal, as no permits have been issued. However, even residents in recognised villages face the same roadblock: no permits are granted. Authorities claim this falls under national security and military command, placing it outside the purview of the Supreme Court.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
Iran diaspora in Los Angeles dream of 'regime change'
But as he stands among his dates, dried plums and pistachios, he also cherishes the hope of change in his native country. Iran "is not capable of providing food to the Persian people," said Ghafari, who left to study abroad before the 1979 revolution and never returned. "If the people (there) were happy about a change of regime, I would be too." "Everyone would be happy," agreed Fereshteh, one of his clients and a fellow resident of so-called "Tehrangeles" -- a mash-up of Tehran and Los Angeles. For Fereshteh, who gave only her first name to protect her identity, "Donald Trump is a hero." The American president ordered strikes against three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, providing unprecedented support to Israel in its offensive against Iran. He even raised the possibility of "regime change," before backing away and saying it would chaos. Any talk of ousting Iran's clerical leadership resonates strongly in the Los Angeles area, where nearly 200,000 Iranian-Americans live, making the Californian metropolis the diaspora's global hub. Many of its members live in the west end of the city, near the UCLA campus. Filled with Middle Eastern grocery stores, carpet merchants and bookstores selling books in Farsi, the neighborhood is also known as "Little Persia." The immigrants who have made it their home include minorities often seen as discriminated against in Iran such as Jews, Christians and Assyrians. 'Rise up' "It's time for the Iranian people to rise up, because right now, the regime is very weak," said Fereshteh, herself Jewish, who fled Iran in the 1980s during the war between her country and Iraq. Trump was elected on a promise to focus on America and stay out of foreign wars. But among the grocery store's customers, some would like him to push his intervention in Iran to the limit. "We should send troops there," says Mehrnoosh, a 45-year-old woman who arrived in the United States in 2010. "The people there have their hands tied," she said, adding that "the regime killed so many Iranians three years ago during the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini," a student arrested for fitting her veil improperly. But on the terrace of the "Taste of Tehran" restaurant, one man hopes the United States will pull back to avoid its fate in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Change by force never pays must come from within, by the people, for the people, and we're not there yet," said the 68-year-old engineer, who wished to remain anonymous. The conflict has so far claimed more than 600 lives in Iran and 28 in Israel, according to authorities in both countries. A fragile ceasefire in the war between Iran and Israel war appeared to be holding on Tuesday -- a relief for the engineer, who had recently spoken to his aunt on the phone. For several days, she fled Tehran for the northwest of the country to escape Israeli bombardments. "Is it worth it? Absolutely not," he said, recalling he lost his grandparents to bombs during the Iran-Iraq War. "My hope is for all this to end soon."
