A group of protesters broke into the Azerbaijani embassy in London, the British newspaper Metro reported.

Social media footage shows men waving flags from the balcony of the embassy in Kensington. Slogans in Arabic are painted on the wall, and the protesters tore down the Azerbaijani flag.

It is not clear how the protest ended, but it appears to have been led by a group called the Union of Mahdi Servants. It is a London-based Shia Muslim organization that claims on its website that it wants to establish civilizational dominance. Its leader, Yasser al-Habib, is a controversial cleric whose film The Heavenly Lady was pulled from British cinemas earlier this year after protests by some Sunni Muslims offended by his interpretation of Islamic history.

Members of the group refer to the Azerbaijani government's persecution of some Shiite Muslims in the country. The group said in a statement that its leader had instructed it to "take urgent action" against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued an urgent statement condemning the seizure of the diplomatic mission. The seizure of the embassy and the threat looming over Azerbaijani diplomats are a gross violation of the Vienna Convention, the statement said.

Theprotesters were detained by the police, the embassy employees were not injured.

Between the pro-government Azerbaijani portal haqqin.az, citing diplomatic sources, reports that the group carried out the action under the influence of the special services of one of the Shiite states.