Iran slams UK crackdown on protesters

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki urges the UK government to show self-restraint in dealing with protesters, objecting to education reform plans.

Mottaki “advised the British government to practice self-restraint in the face of public demands and to observe human dignity,” a Foreign Ministry statement said on Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is diligently monitoring the developments in Britain and regrets the fact that the battering of [UK] students…coincided with the International Human Rights Day,” the statement quoted Mottaki as saying.

Those, who claim to be advocates of human rights and democracy, “cannot even tolerate a peaceful voice of protest from their intellectuals (academics) and use the tool of pressure and suppression instead of dialogue based on rationale,” he added.