Seven charged with GBH after Iran embassy protest

Conditions remain in place to prevent disorder outside the Iranian embassy

Seven men have been charged with grievous bodily harm after two people were allegedly assaulted outside the Iranian embassy during a protest.

Officers had responded to reports of an altercation in Princes Gate in Knightsbridge, west London, shortly after 09:50 BST on Friday, the Metropolitan Police said.

The officers intervened and additional police were deployed to the scene.

Two men, aged 37 and 39, were taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, a Met spokesperson said.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has issued the following statement ahead of a planned protest in support of Palestine Action, due to take place in Westminster on Monday, 23 June.

“I’m sure many people will be as shocked and frustrated as I am to see a protest taking place tomorrow in support of Palestine Action.

“This is an organised extremist criminal group, whose proscription as terrorists is being actively considered. Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft. Multiple members of the group are awaiting trial accused of serious offences.

“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest. Thousands of people attend protests of a different character every week without clashing with the law or with the police. The criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, in contrast, represent a form of extremism that I believe the overwhelming majority of the public rejects.

“We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group. If that happens we will be determined to target those who continue to act in its name and those who show support for it.

“Until then we have no power in law to prevent tomorrow’s protest taking place. We do, however, have the power to impose conditions on it to prevent disorder, damage, and serious disruption to the community, including to Parliament, to elected representatives moving around Westminster and to ordinary Londoners.

“Breaches of the law will be dealt with robustly.”

Details of conditions

Public Order Act conditions have been imposed on the protest.

It must not begin before midday and must end by 3pm.

It cannot take place within the exclusion zone shown in blue on the map below.

The formal wording of the conditions, which are imposed under Section 14(3) of the Public Order Act 1986 to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property and serious disruption to the life of the community, is set out below:

1. Any person participating in the “We are All Palestine Action”, “Palestine Action Emergency Mobilisation” assembly on Monday 23rd June 2025 must not assemble in the shaded area on the attached map (above).

2. The “We are All Palestine Action”, “Palestine Action Emergency Mobilisation” assembly on Monday 23rd June 2025 must not commence before 12:00 hours on Monday 23rd June 2025.

3. The “We are All Palestine Action”, “Palestine Action Emergency Mobilisation” assembly on Monday 23rd June 2025 must conclude by 15:00 hours on Monday 23rd June 2025.

Arrests as two assaulted outside Iranian embassy

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Reuters Police dismantle a protest after seven men were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm earlier on the same day near Iran’s embassy

Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after two people were assaulted outside the Iranian embassy. The Met Police have said they believe the altercation happened between protesters supporting and opposing the Iranian monarchy, and there were no links to Israel. Officers had responded to reports of an altercation in Princes Gate in Knightsbridge, west London, shortly after 09:50 BST on Friday, a force spokesperson said. Two men were treated for injuries at the scene by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) before one was taken to a major trauma centre and the other to hospital.

Conditions have been put in place to prevent serious disorder, stopping protesters from gathering in the area until 13:00 BST on Sunday. Seven men, whose ages have not yet been given, remained in police custody, the force said. An eighth was arrested for breaching the order banning protesters from gathering. The force had earlier said it believed the altercation had involved only pro-monarchy protesters. The area has been cordoned off while initial investigations take place. An LAS spokesperson said: “We were called at 09:56 BST today (June 20) to reports of an assault in Princes Gate. “We sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, paramedics in fast response cars and our Tactical Response Unit. “We treated two patients at the scene and took one to hospital and one to a major trauma centre.” Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, they added. A number of national embassies are located on or near Prince’s Gate, including the Embassy of The Islamic Republic of Iran.

Sir Mark Rowley said he was “shocked and frustrated” at a planned protest in support of Palestine Action, as the Government moves to ban the group.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said a protest supporting the “organised extremist criminal group” was due to take place in Westminster on Monday.

He said until the group is proscribed the force has “no power in law” to prevent the protest taking place, adding that breaches of the law would be “dealt with robustly”.

The Home Secretary will update Parliament on Monday on the Government’s plan to ban Palestine Action following the group’s vandalism of two planes at an RAF base.

Yvette Cooper will provide MPs with more details on the move to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support it, in a written ministerial statement.

The decision comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine.

The incident is being investigated by counter-terror police.

In a statement on Sunday, Sir Mark said: “I’m sure many people will be as shocked and frustrated as I am to see a protest taking place tomorrow in support of Palestine Action.

“This is an organised extremist criminal group, whose proscription as terrorists is being actively considered.

“Members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and last week claimed responsibility for breaking into an airbase and damaging aircraft. Multiple members of the group are awaiting trial accused of serious offences.

“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest.

“Thousands of people attend protests of a different character every week without clashing with the law or with the police. The criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, in contrast, represent a form of extremism that I believe the overwhelming majority of the public rejects.

“We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group. If that happens we will be determined to target those who continue to act in its name and those who show support for it.

“Until then we have no power in law to prevent tomorrow’s protest taking place. We do, however, have the power to impose conditions on it to prevent disorder, damage, and serious disruption to the community, including to Parliament, to elected representatives moving around Westminster and to ordinary Londoners.

“Breaches of the law will be dealt with robustly.”

A spokesperson for Palestine Action previously accused the UK of failing to meet its obligation to prevent or punish genocide.

The spokesperson said: “When our Government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.”

Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said he could not rule out the possibility of a foreign power being behind Palestine Action.

The Business and Trade Secretary told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “It is extremely concerning they gained access to that base and the Defence Secretary is doing an immediate review of how that happened.

“The actions that they undertook at Brize Norton were also completely unacceptable and it’s not the first. It’s the fourth attack by that group on a key piece of UK defence infrastructure.”

The Home Secretary has the power to proscribe an organisation under the Terrorism Act of 2000 if she believes it is “concerned in terrorism”.

Proscription will require Ms Cooper to lay an order in Parliament, which must then be debated and approved by both MPs and peers.

Some 81 organisations have been proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and al Qaida, far-right groups such as National Action, and Russian private military company the Wagner Group.

Former justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer said vandalising aircraft at RAF Brize Norton would not solely provide legal justification for proscribing the group.

Asked whether the group’s actions were commensurate with proscription, Lord Falconer told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I am not aware of what Palestine Action has done beyond the painting of things on the planes in Brize Norton, they may have done other things I didn’t know.

“But generally, that sort of demonstration wouldn’t justify proscription so there must be something else that I don’t know about.”

Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf said the Government was “abusing” anti-terror laws against pro-Palestine activists, as tens of thousands of protesters marched in London on Saturday.

Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) welcomed the news that Ms Cooper intended to proscribe Palestine Action, saying: “Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.”

Former home secretary Suella Braverman also said it was “absolutely the correct decision”.

A pro-Palestine protester at Saturday’s march in central London said it was “absolutely horrendous” that the Government was preparing to ban Palestine Action.

Artist Hannah Woodhouse, 61, told the PA news agency: “Counter-terrorism measures, it seems, are being used against non-violent peace protesters.

“The peace activists are trying to do the Government’s job, which is to disarm Israel.”

Palestine Action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.

Woman stabbed to death before gas explosion named

5 days ago Share Save James W Kelly & Aurelia Foster BBC News Luxmy Gopal BBC News Reporting from Stoke Newington Share Save

Family handout Annabel Rook co-founded a charity that supports refugees

A woman found stabbed after a gas explosion at her home has been named as a charity worker who supported refugees. Annabel Rook, 46, was found fatally injured at a house in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, north London, just before 05:00 BST. She worked for a charity she co-founded called Mama Suze CIC, which supports refugee and migrant women, some who have fled domestic violence, with art and drama activities. A 44-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder was taken with slash wounds to hospital, where his condition is not life-threatening, the Met Police said. The force believes Ms Rook’s death was “a domestic-related incident”.

Two children aged seven and nine were also taken to hospital as a precaution but are not thought to have been inside the home when the explosion happened.

John Martin, who worked with Ms Rook for about a decade before she set up her charity, said the news of her death was “devastating”. “She came to us a volunteer trainee interested in using drama and working with groups of trafficked women,” said Mr Martin, the artistic director of the charity Pan Intercultural Arts. “She was a very lively, bubbly, enthusiastic person, full of confidence and a desire to make women’s lives better, especially those who have been through the hell of being trafficked. “She certainly brought a lot of not just happiness but development in these women’s lives.”

PA Media Ms Rook was found fatally stabbed inside a house following a gas explosion

In a statement posted on social media, MamaSuze said the organisation was “devastated by the loss of our beloved co-founder”, adding that she treated everyone with “warmth and kindness”. “Annabel was a profound force for good in the world, dedicating her working life to supporting women survivors,” the statement read. “She started MamaSuze to bring art, creativity and joy to women who had arrived in the UK fleeing violence and human trafficking, treating everyone she met with warmth and kindness.”

‘My whole house shook’

Neighbour Caroline Lacey told the BBC the house where the explosion happened was home to a family. “It’s very, very sad… they’re a young couple, they’ve got young children, so it’s a shock… it’s tragic.” Another neighbour, Alun Gordon, said: “We just woke up to a massive bang… my whole house shook, it felt like a truck had hit the house. “I then heard screams, someone shouting ‘oh my God’ several times, so I came outside and basically all the neighbours appeared in their pyjamas. “We quickly established that the children got out, that there’d been marital strife.” He added: “My daughter babysat for her and we would chat to her as a neighbour. It’s a massive tragedy for the street.”

PA Media A cordon has been put in place as police investigate

One resident said he heard a crash “like somebody dropped a massive glass cabinet from a crane”. The man, who did not want to be named, added: “I looked out and saw panes of glass on the floor. “Eventually I noticed the beam on the bay window was missing and could see some mild smoke coming out of the back.”

Det Ch Supt Brittany Clarke described the incident as “extremely tragic” and extended her condolences to Ms Rook’s family. “Our officers arrested a man on suspicion of murder at the scene and will be conducting interviews as soon as possible, to establish the full circumstances that led to Annabel’s death,” she added.