A crowd of 400 has gathered outside the Swiss Embassy in Tehran to protest against the American-made film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad that has sparked outrage in the world's Muslim community.
“Death to the United States and death to Israel and death to England!” was heard over a loudspeaker outside the Swiss diplomatic mission, which represents American diplomatic interests in Iran, following the breakup of diplomatic ties in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution of 1979.Riot police have cordoned off the are, causing traffic jams around the capital as the crowd voiced support for demonstrations in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia. Shouts of "Muslims, unite!" and "Mohammad is God's prophet" were heard.Reacting to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s claims that "the United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and message," Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "if American politicians are honest in their claims that they were not involved, they have to hold responsible those who committed this obscene crime … and their financial supporters," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying in a statement.A day earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the "repulsive" film, deeming it offensive to Islam, and calling on Washington to take action. "The US government's systematic and continued silence on such repulsive acts is the fundamental reason that they keep happening, The American government has the responsibility to stop this dangerous trend in the spreading of insults to Islamic Umma's highest sanctities," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a statement.