The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, was attacked by angry protesters in New York on Wednesday.
The Associated Press reports that the New York Police Department confirmed the news, saying Mehmanparast was surrounded by a mob while walking in Manhattan near the UN.
The Iranian diplomat reportedly captured the attention of police officers as the mob began to get physical, and the officers escorted him to safety.
The NYPD reports that no arrests were made, as the threats were believed to have been only verbal.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday as a protest against the Islamic Republic was held outside the building.
According to Associated Press the People Mojahedin Organization of Iran had organized the biggest protest against the Islamic Republic on Wednesday in front of the UN with speeches from several high ranked U.S. politicians.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke to the crowd, calling for stronger action against Iran by the Obama administration, but he commended its decision to remove the People’s Mojahedin Organization, also referred to as Mujahediin-e-Khalq (MEK), from the U.S. terrorist list.
Iran’s spokesman at the U.N. accused the MEK of organizing the attack and slammed the U.S. decision to remove the dissident group from its terrorist watch list.
