Laura Kuenssberg Confronts Iranian Ambassador Over Protester Killings

Laura Kuenssberg has confronted a senior Iranian officials over his government’s killing of thousands of protesters.

Up to 36,500 civilians are estimated to have been murdered by the regime following by ordinary people an uprising in January.

On the BBC this morning, Kuenssberg asked Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, how he could justify his government’s brutality towards its own people.

She said: “Since we last spoke, your government has killed thousands of its own people in the streets who had the courage to stand up to protest against the suffering that they have been experiencing at the hands of the regime.

“Thousands of people were killed. How on earth do you justify that, ambassador?”

Ali Mousavi admitted Iran “has our own problems”, which he blamed on western sanctions imposed on the country.

And he insisted all Iranians were now united following the military action launched on the country by America and Israel.

He said: “Our people are in a very painful and sensitive period of time, but they are supporting the government against the foreign invader, the foreign aggressors. If you go inside Iran, you see unity among the people.

But Kuenssberg told him: “Just this morning I looked at some of the images and watched some of the videos from what happened to protesters in your country in January.

“I looked at videos and images, verified by our colleagues at BBC Verify, that show body bags littered over the courtyard of a mortuary, I saw images of young, old, teenagers, people killed by your government – beaten faces, bloodied bodies, gunshot wounds.

“How on earth can you justify that and sit there today saying ‘our people have some complaints’? Your government killed thousands of their own people and the world saw that.”

The ambassador said: “I do not want to say that we do not have any problems. No, there are problems in our country. The way to solve those problems is according to Iranian laws and regulations without any interference from foreign countries against Iran.”

Kuenssberg went on: “This was about your own people taking to the streets to protest against their suffering, and if you had nothing to hide, why turn off the internet during the protests?

“If you had nothing to hide, why not allow people to report freely and fairly?”

Ali Mousavi warned her to “be very delicate regarding the Iranian circumstances and conditions in Iran”.

He added: “Iran is one of the peace-loving countries and I hope that you recommend these kind of activities.”