An anti-regime protester made a bold statement on Friday by scaling the balcony of the Iranian Embassy in London and replacing the Islamic Republic’s flag with the pre-1979 “Lion and Sun” emblem, as captured in a widely circulated video.

The protester managed to climb the façade of the embassy located in Kensington, where they removed the current regime’s flag. In its place, they raised the historic emblem that symbolizes Iran’s monarchy before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The act was met with enthusiastic cheers from a large crowd of anti-regime demonstrators gathered below.

The Metropolitan Police reported that they responded to the scene and arrested two individuals. One was charged with aggravated trespass and assaulting an emergency worker, while the other faced charges of aggravated trespass. Authorities are also searching for another person involved in the trespass. It remains unclear if the individual responsible for removing the flag was among those detained.

Despite reaching out for a statement, Iran’s Embassy in London did not provide a comment before the time of publication.

Footage and images from the event, showing the protester standing triumphantly on the embassy balcony with the pre-revolution emblem, quickly spread across social media. (Pegah Janbakhsh via Storyful)

The embassy protest comes as Iran faces its most significant wave of unrest in years. President Trump has warned the regime that the U.S. will protect protesters if necessary.

Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian journalist, said the unrest stands in sharp contrast to Iran’s 2009 Green Movement, when protesters openly questioned whether the Obama administration supported them.

“What a contrast to Obama’s time, when protesters in Iran were chanting, ‘Obama, are you with us or with them?’” Azarmehr told Fox News Digital.

“Any international support, whether at the grassroots or government level, is encouraging.”

He said global attention matters to protesters on the ground but questioned the lack of visible demonstrations by Western activist groups.

An Iranian internet blackout activated the centralized kill switch to conceal alleged crimes as protests surged.  (Sadegh Nikgostar ATPImages/Getty Images)

“The question is where are the Western activist elite protesters? Why are they not protesting? Are they on the side of the ayatollahs? An archaic religious apartheid?”

Demonstrations that began Dec. 28 over economic grievances have since spread nationwide, evolving into a direct challenge to Iran’s clerical leadership. Solidarity protests with Iranian demonstrators have also emerged in other major European cities, including Paris and Berlin. A protest also took place outside the White House in Washington, D.C.

As of Saturday, at least 72 people have been killed and more than 2,300 detained in Iran-based protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Some protests have included chants supporting Iran’s former monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who died in 1980. His son, Reza Pahlavi, has publicly called for continued demonstrations. The Iranian regime has also cut nationwide internet access.

At a press conference in Washington, D.C., Friday, Trump said Iran was facing mounting pressure.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” Trump said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

Trump warned the United States would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence.

A vehicle burns during protests in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 8, 2026.  (Khosh Iran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts,” Trump said. “And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.”

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown despite U.S. warnings, according to The Associated Press.

Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests would be considered an “enemy of God,” a charge that carries the death penalty. The statement, carried by Iranian state television, said even those who “helped rioters” would face charges.

“Prosecutors must carefully and without delay, by issuing indictments, prepare the grounds for the trial and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the nation and creating insecurity, seek foreign domination over the country,” the statement said.

“Proceedings must be conducted without leniency, compassion or indulgence.”