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.
Thousands of students on Thursday gathered in central London to protest, as the British Parliament met to vote on a proposal to nearly triple university tuition fees. The Parliament, however, eventually approved the measure, and the fee increases are set to take effect in 2012.
The police turned shockingly violent against protesters, which resulted in numerous injuries and 43 arrests.
Police attacked 20-year-old Alfie Meadows hitting him with a truncheon on the head. The student lost consciousness on the way to hospital where he underwent a three-hour operation.
A group of students attacked the car of Prince Charles and his wif…
