The British government has taken the significant diplomatic step of summoning Iran's ambassador to the UK, following what it describes as "horrific" reports of a violent state crackdown on domestic protests.
Diplomatic Rebuke Over Protest Crackdown
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper informed the House of Commons that her colleague, Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer, called in the Iranian representative on Tuesday, 13 January 2026. The move was to underline the gravity of the situation and demand answers from Tehran concerning alarming accounts of violence against its own citizens.
Ms Cooper told MPs that "horrific reports suggest that potentially thousands of people have been killed" while "protesting for change". She cited a total internet shutdown in Iran on 8 January as a major obstacle to verifying the full scale of the crisis, expressing fear that initial reports "may underestimate the full horror".
Scale of the Unrest and International Condemnation
The protests, sparked by a widening economic crisis, have spread across Iran since December. According to the Reuters news agency, an Iranian official has acknowledged around 2,000 deaths during two weeks of demonstrations. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Activants News Agency reports that over 10,000 people have been arrested.
In a strongly worded statement to Parliament, Ms Cooper declared: "The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms the horrendous and brutal killing of Iranian protesters, and we demand that the Iranian authorities respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens."
Broader Pattern of Iranian Behaviour
The Foreign Secretary framed the current crackdown as part of a persistent pattern of behaviour by the Iranian regime. She stated that recent events are "no outlier" and referenced Iran's history of backing groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Furthermore, Ms Cooper levelled serious accusations concerning Iran's activities on British soil. She claimed the regime poses a "danger to dissidents, journalists and the Jewish community here in the UK". She revealed that Britain's security services had uncovered more than 20 "potentially lethal Iran-backed plots over the last year alone".
The cabinet minister confirmed she had spoken directly to her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Monday to issue a warning. The summoning of the ambassador represents a formal escalation of the UK's diplomatic response as it seeks to hold the Iranian government accountable for its actions both at home and abroad.
