Anti-Iran protester arrested after climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge to deliver ‘message to Trump'

Man hangs flags of the USA, Israel and Australia on landmark

A man has been arrested after scaling Sydney Harbour Bridge in heavy fog to deliver a message to Donald Trump.

New South Wales Police were called to the scene early on Sunday morning. The force deployed police rescue and a specialist bomb disposal unit to help bring him down.

The 33-year-old, who gave his name as Pedro, left his car parked at the northern end of the bridge, before scaling it.

In a protest against the government of Iran, he went on to hang the flags of the USA, Israel and Australia from the top of the bridge, alongside the former flag of Iran which was replaced after the Iranian revolution of 1979.

In a video posted to Twitter from the top of the bridge, he claimed to have climbed the landmark to record a favourable “message from the Iranian people” to US President Donald Trump.

He added: "At the moment we don't have any President in Iran. Our President at the moment is President Trump - you are our President at the moment, until we get a new president and we get rid of this terrorist regime".

He followed this with a combination of apparent references to the QAnon conspiracy theory popular among some Trump supporters, and to the Iranian anti-government group Restart.

He has been charged with damage, disruption or obstruction of Sydney Harbour Bridge and faces a maximum sentence of a $22,000 (£11166) fine and two years in prison.

He appears in court on 7 July.

The Restart group was founded “to overthrow the regime of Islamic Republic of Iran, establish a government based on knowledge and merits, and replace misery and poverty with happiness and prosperity”, according to its website.

In October 2017 several supporters of the group were reportedly arrested on suspicion of arson in Iran after leader Seyed Mohammad Hosseini issued a "Fire challenge", which called on followers to ignite banks and state military buildings.