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Yvette Cooper has confirmed the government has summoned the Iranian ambassador in a statement to the Commons.
The foreign secretary has said her colleague, the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, summoned the Iranian representative in the UK “to underline the gravity of this moment and to call Iran to answer for the horrific reports that we are hearing”.
The Reuters news agency says around 2,000 people have been killed during widespread protests, according to an Iranian official.
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Protests sparked by a widening economic crisis have spread across the country since December.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency says over 10,000 people have been arrested.
Ms Cooper told MPs that “horrific reports suggest that potentially thousands of people have been killed” while “protesting for change”, and that due to a “total internet shutdown” in Iran on 8 January, “the full facts are not yet clear”.
But she added: “I am fearful that the reports we have seen may underestimate the full horror as further evidence and testimony reaches the outside world.”
‘UK condemns brutal killings in the strongest terms’
In a strongly worded warning, Ms Cooper said: “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.”
The cabinet minister told the Commons she spoke to her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Monday to warn him to stop.
Iranian Ambassador to the UK Seyed Ali Mousavi .
Pic: PA
But she also…
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