Fact-check: Are UK weapons being used against protestors in Iran?
Iran is currently gripped by the largest -- and most significant -- wave of unrest in its recent history.
The protests, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini on 16 September, have swept across the country, with security forces cracking down hard on demonstrators.
While internet access is heavily restricted in Iran, photos and videos have nevertheless spread on social media that claim to show UK weapons are being used to suppress protestors.
But is this the case?
Several images shared on Twitter purport to show that non-lethal, UK-made weapons, such as stun grenades and flash bangs, have been deployed against protestors.
One of these images is a stun grenade canister, which clearly displays the word "England".
Many have seized upon this as evidence UK weapons are helping Iran's security forces stamp out dissent, claiming Britain is somehow implicated in the violence and bloodshed in Iran.
But it is not so simple.
According to Forensic Architecture, a UK-based research group that investigates state violence, the text on the canister photographed above reads "Limited High Post Wiltshire England", which they say means it is likely from a defunct UK arms company, Old Schermuly Limited.
The stun grenade, they told Euronews, is "an old model, so [it was] probably sold years back", while much of the outer layer was burnt off after its use.
In 1978, when the country was still ruled by the pro-Western Shah, himself installed by the US and UK in a coup, Schermuly exported large quantities of non-lethal weaponry to Iran.
That year it was reported that Schermuly exported to Iran 13,000 anti-riot guns, 26,000 CS gas cartridges and 20,000 mini smoke grenades, 20,000 anti-riot helmets, 20,000 gas masks and 20,000 riot shields, while 2,000
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