Protesters banned from 'banging objects to make noise' at Iranian Embassy march

Protesters have been banned from using instruments or banging objects to make noise at an upcoming march to the Iranian Embassy, police have said.

Conditions have been posed on Saturday's demonstration in central London to "prevent serious disruption" and "limit disturbance" to local residents, according to the Metropolitan Police.

In a post on social media on Friday evening, the force said demonstrators were due to march from Whitehall to the Iranian Embassy in Westminster on Saturday afternoon.

No "amplified noise equipment" for speeches or music, instruments may be used and banging "other objects" to "create noise" has been banned, according to the force.

It comes after police said it would "intervene decisively" to stop criminal behaviour at the embassy where protests have been held for weeks.

Demonstrators have repeatedly scaled the building, toppling its flagpole, and officers have faced violence, Scotland Yard said in January.

The protests started after an uprising in Iran against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule was brutally suppressed, with hundreds of people killed and thousands detained.

The Metropolitan Police said: "A protest against the Government in Iran will take place tomorrow afternoon, marching from Whitehall to the Iranian Embassy.

"We've imposed Public Order Act conditions to prevent serious disruption."

"The post-march rally must finish by 5.30pm with everyone dispersed by 6pm," the force added.

"No amplified noise equipment can be used for music or speeches.

"Instruments may not be used and other objects must not be banged to create noise.

"This is to limit the disturbance to people living nearby."

As part of the conditions, participants must remain on a defined route stretching from near Downing Street, down Pall Mall and along Piccadilly.

US president Donald Trump is weighing fresh military action against the Islamic Republic, with a second US warship moving into the region and warnings that he could go ahead if no deal on its nuclear programme is reached.

This week, the Times reported Mr Trump had withdrawn is backing for Sir Keir Starmer's Chagos Islands deal because he has not received UK approval to use its military bases for a US strike on Iran.

The Iranian embassy in west London was the site of a famous siege in 1980 when six armed men took 26 people hostage.

The hostage-takers were Iranian-Arabs campaigning for the sovereignty of Khuzestan, a province in the south west of the country.

SAS soldiers stormed the embassy in 17 minutes on day six of the siege.

They rescued all but one of the hostages, killing five of the six hostage-takers in the process.