Demonstrations against the Iranian regime in Bern and Zurich
Keystone-SDA
Protests were held in Zurich and Bern on Tuesday against the Iranian regime. Several hundred people took part in a rally in Zurich, while in Bern police intervened outside the Iranian embassy.
+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
Several hundred people gathered at Europaplatz near Zurich’s main station on Tuesday evening, according to a photographer from the Keystone-SDA news agency. The authorised protest, organised by Free Iran Switzerland, passed off peacefully. The group campaigns for an end to the Islamic Republic, according to its website.
Protesters expressed their demands for change in Iran. Effigies of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were set alight and many flags from the Shah’s era – before the 1979 Islamic Revolution – were on display.
+ Without the US, nuclear talks between Iran and Europe make fragile progress
Tear gas used in Bern
In Bern, police intervened outside the Iranian embassy on Tuesday afternoon, using tear gas. The atmosphere was “tense”, the Bern cantonal police said in a statement later that evening.
Participants in the unauthorised gathering outside the Iranian embassy initially refused to clear the road when told to do so. The police statement also mentioned a “medical incident”, with ambulance crews attending to the person involved.
Before police stepped in, three men had illegally entered the embassy grounds. One was arrested, searched and taken to a police station, while the other two remain at large, according to the press release.
Thousands reported dead in Iran
Iranians have been protesting for more than two weeks against the country’s authoritarian regime of the Islamic Republic. What began as demonstrations over an economic crisis has now spread nationwide. Violent clashes and widespread unrest have erupted in several cities, with security forces responding brutally.
These are the most serious protests Iran has seen in years. Human rights groups reported several thousand deaths on Tuesday.
Translated from French by AI/sp