Iran censures Danish police after attack on embassy in Copenhagen

Iran has censured Danish police after a knife-yielding attacker allegedly barged into the Iranian Embassy in Copenhagen and threatened the ambassador and other staff, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, spoke to the Iranian Ambassador in Denmark, Afsaneh Nadipoor, following the incident on Friday, said a statement by the Foreign Ministry.

The Envoy was quoted in the statement as saying that the armed intruder entered the embassy premises and started threatening and intimidating the staff and damaging vehicles in the parking lot of the embassy.

This came amid growing protests in European countries over the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody last month following her detention by the country’s morality police for an alleged violation of the dress code.

READ: Belgium Foreign Minister cuts hair in Parliament in support of Iranian women

Nadipoor told the Iranian Foreign Minister that, “despite previous official warnings”, the police arrived at the embassy with delay.

Amir-Abdollahian expressed regret that “such an attack is launched in the heart of Europe against a woman and ambassador who enjoys diplomatic immunity and the police fail to arrive on time”, the statement noted.

Last week, several protesters attempted to break into the Iranian Embassy in Oslo, which resulted in fierce clashes between local police and demonstrators.

EU’s Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, on Thursday said the bloc is mulling sanctions on Iran over Amini’s death, which was followed by a phone call between Borrell and Amir-Abdollahian in which they warned latter against any “hasty political” move.

Later on Thursday, EU lawmakers adopted a resolution calling for sanctions against those responsible for Amini’s death, condemning what it called “widespread and disproportionate use of force” by Iranian security forces against protesters.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, in a statement rejected the statement as “interventionist”, saying organisers of the “riots” are of European origin.