Iran presses UK to show 'restraint' with demonstrators

Iranian official urges Britain to allow delegation into country to investigate police human rights violations.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Rioting in northern London (photo credit: REUTERS)
Rioting in northern London
(photo credit: REUTERS)
As riots have spread across the UK leading to hundreds of arrests and the death of one 26-year-old man, Iran has called on British police to avoid using violence against rioters and demonstrators, and to show "restraint" when dealing with protesters, Iranian Fars News Agency reported.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast reportedly asked the UK government to open dialogue with "protesters," and has called on human rights groups to investigate the killing of Mark Duggan, 29, which sparked the violent riots that has seen substantial damage and theft.
RELATED:Police prepare for the worst as London riots continue
Deputy Head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Ebrahimi also told Fars news that he had requested from the British government to allow an Iranian human rights delegation to visit the country, and "study human rights violations."
Ebrahimi requested the government in UK "avoid making unreal excuses" in regards to their requests.
Meanwhile, residents in neighborhoods across Britain were reeling from three days of massive riots. At least 434 people have been arrested as police attempt to control the unrest.
British Prime Minister David Cameron broke off his holiday in Italy on Monday to fly home. He was due to chair a meeting of Cobra, the government's crisis committee, to work out a strategy to prevent more violence and consider why the riots broke out and spread so fast, taking the authorities by surprise.


Related Tags
David Cameron