Member of Iran's Majlis (parliament) Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash
A member of Iran's Majlis (parliament) says the recent wave of protests sweeping some British cities is indicative of an intellectual awakening in Britain.
Iranian legislator Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, who is on the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, told IRNA on Tuesday that “we shouldn't assume that what happened in Africa and Asia only belongs to Islamic countries." Today rather, he added, "countries such as Greece, Spain and England have been hit by similar uprisings.”
The Iranian lawmaker further said that regardless of the nature of the uprisings, people in non-Islamic states also seek to determine their destiny and flout monarchic rules.
Ahmadi Bighash also called on the Iranian Foreign Ministry to remind the British government about the rights of their citizens and the need to heed their demands.
Britain's unprecedented protests started when peaceful demonstrators took to the streets in Tottenhom, London. Soon after, however, violent protests erupted in major cities like Birmingham, Liverpool, and Bristol creating trouble for the British government and the Metropolitan Police.
Protest outbreaks were also reported in Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Reading, and Oxford.
The Metropolitan police has arrested around 140 protesters in Birmingham.
The chief constable of the West Midlands force, Chris Sims, accused hundreds of protesters of criminal greed.
Furthermore, in a bid to intimidate angry protesters, London's Metropolitan Police announced that 16,000 police officers would be deployed on the streets in London. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh also confirmed the prospects of police using baton rounds and plastic bullets.
Moreover, British Labor Party leader, Ed Miliband, called on the police to respond more powerfully against the protesters.
GHN/HJL/MB
