Protests and rally against Danish video

Parliament has said economic ties should be severed and diplomatic links frozen. Three Molotov bombs were thrown at the embassy.

Teheran (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Three Molotov bombs were hurled at the Danish embassy in Teheran during a rally and a petition was signed by 232 MPs calling on President Ahmadinejad to sever economic ties with Copenhagen and to freeze political relations "if Denmark continues its policies". These were the controlled Iranian reactions to news that the TV-2 Danish television channel broadcast a video of the youth wing of the extreme right Danish People's Party, featuring a picture of Muhammad depicted as a camel with a hump of beer.

This was the only rally in the Muslim world covered by the media yesterday. The demonstrators headed towards the seat of Danish diplomacy in the northern part of Teheran, crying out "Death to Zionists". Their path was blocked by police who prevented them from getting too close to the embassy. They shouted slogans for an hour and threw a few stones and the three Molotov bombs, which fell in the garden of the building, before they were dispersed by forces of order. The protesters announced a new protest will be held this afternoon.

Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi called on all Muslim states to break ties with Denmark while a petition approved by the Majlis (parliament) urged that economic ties with Denmark be cut and political links frozen. Signed by the overwhelming majority of the MPs (232 out of 290), the petition said "disrespecting the prophet of Islam is not tolerable under any conditions". This stance appears to pass over statements made by the government of Copenhagen condemning the behaviour of the DPP youth wing.

• iran
• denmark
• video
• muhammad
• camel
• rally
• parliament
• economic
• diplomatic
• ties