Iran censures Danish police after attack on embassy in Copenhagen

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - 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.

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.

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 the latter warned 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 organizers of the "riots" are of European origin.