Iran Embassy London flag torn down, changed with pre-1979 image

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An anti-regime protester scaled the balcony of Iran’s Embassy in London on Friday and tore down the Islamic Republic’s flag, changing it with Iran’s pre-1979 "Lion and Solar" emblem, video reveals.

The demonstrator climbed the entrance of the embassy constructing in Kensington earlier than ripping down the regime’s flag and hoisting the historic image related to Iran’s monarchy previous to the 1979 Islamic Revolution as a big crowd of anti-regime protesters cheered on.

The Metropolitan Police mentioned officers responded to the scene and made two arrests — one for aggravated trespass and assault on an emergency employee, and one other for aggravated trespass. Police mentioned they're additionally in search of one other particular person for trespass. It was not instantly clear whether or not the protester who tore down the flag was amongst these arrested.

Fox Information Digital reached out to Iran’s Embassy in London for remark however didn't obtain a response by the point of publication.

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A protester stands on the balcony of the Iranian Embassy in London after changing the Islamic Republic’s flag with Iran’s pre-1979 "Lion and Solar" emblem throughout an indication. Video and pictures of the incident circulated on social media. (Pegah Janbakhsh by way of Storyful)

The embassy protest comes as Iran faces its most significant wave of unrest in years. President Trump has warned the regime that the U.S. will defend protesters if obligatory.

Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian journalist, mentioned the present unrest stands in sharp distinction to Iran’s 2009 Inexperienced Motion, when protesters brazenly questioned whether or not the Obama administration supported them.

"What a distinction to Obama’s time, when protesters in Iran had been chanting, ‘Obama, are you with us or with them?’" Azarmehr instructed Fox Information Digital.

"Any worldwide help, whether or not on the grassroots or authorities stage, is encouraging," he mentioned.

He mentioned global attention issues to protesters on the bottom, however questioned the dearth of seen demonstrations by Western activist teams.

Iran web blackout activated the centralized kill change to hide alleged crimes as protests surge, NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker says connectivity dropped under 2%. (Sadegh Nikgostar ATPImages/Getty Photos)

"The query is the place are the Western activist elite protesters? Why are they not protesting? Are they on the facet of the ayatollahs? An archaic spiritual apartheid?"

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Demonstrations that started on Dec. 28 over financial grievances have since spread nationwide, evolving into a direct problem to Iran’s clerical management. Solidarity protests with Iranian demonstrators have additionally emerged in different main European cities, together with Paris and Berlin. A protest additionally came about outdoors the White Home in Washington, D.C.

As of Saturday, at least 72 people have been killed and greater than 2,300 detained in Iran-based protests, in line with the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists Information Company.

Some protests have included chants supporting Iran’s former monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in 1980. His son, Reza Pahlavi, has publicly known as for continued demonstrations. The Iranian regime has additionally minimize nationwide web entry.

At a press convention in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Trump said Iran was going through mounting strain.

"Iran’s in large bother," Trump mentioned. "It appears to me that the individuals are taking up sure cities that no person thought had been actually potential just some weeks in the past. We’re watching the state of affairs very fastidiously."

Trump warned america would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence.

A car burns throughout protests in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2026. The nationwide protests started in Tehran's Grand Bazaar in late December over worsening financial situations, then unfold to universities and different cities, with slogans shifting from financial grievances to political and anti-government calls for. (Khosh Iran/Center East Photos/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

"We’ll be hitting them very onerous the place it hurts," Trump mentioned. "And that doesn’t imply boots on the bottom, but it surely means hitting them very, very onerous the place it hurts."

Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown regardless of U.S. warnings, in line with The Related Press.

Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s legal professional normal, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anybody collaborating in protests could be thought-about an "enemy of God," a cost that carries the demise penalty. The assertion, carried by Iranian state tv, mentioned even those that "helped rioters" would face the cost.

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"Prosecutors should fastidiously and directly, by issuing indictments , put together the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those that, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, search overseas domination over the nation," the assertion learn.