A MILL HILL teenager almost a week into a hunger strike has vowed to continue until the US government vows to protect Iranian refugees in Iraq.

Heidari Soudabeht, 19, of Engel Park, begins her sixth day without food today but says she will carry on “even if it means that we die”.

She is one of ten Iranians on hunger strike outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, in an attempt to compel the US government to protect the residents of Camp Ashraf.

She said: “I'm feeling very weak. I was admitted to hospital last night because of a problem with my kidneys. My muscles are really tense all over my body.

“I'm thinking of our families in Camp Ashraf who are in 50 degree heat, who are severely injured and have nothing to protect themselves from the brutality of the forces.

“We will carry on with the hunger strike even if it means that we die. At least here we have doctors to take care of us. There are at least 3,500 people who have nothing [in Camp Ashraf].”

Camp Ashraf is home to around 3,500 supporters of an Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), who have lived there since the 1980s in fear of repression if they return to Iran.

Last week Iraqi forces stormed the camp, bulldozing homes and leaving at least 12 people dead, PMOI told Agency France Press (AFP).

The US afforded residents of the camp protected status under the Fourth Geneva Convention after the invasion of Iraq but have since handed over control of security to the Iraqi government.

The residents fear the raid forms part of an effort to forcibly repatriate them.

The Iraqi government says the aim of the raid was to establish a police station inside the camp and denied violence was used.

Dozens of PMOI supporters have held a permanent vigil outside the US embassy where Ms Soudabeht and others on hunger strike lay on blankets on the ground and camp beds.

Ms Soudabeht said: “We're here to protest the fact that the US government has not fulfilled its duty to protect the residents of Camp Ashraf.

“There's nobody and nothing to protect them, even though they're protected people and the US forces have an obligation to protect them."

Ms Soudabeht moved to the UK from Iran two years ago with her immediate family.

She was studying in Manchester but now works as a volunteer to raise awareness of the plight of Camp Ashraf residents.

“I will continue to do this no matter what the consequences, until the US forces fulfil their duty and the Iraqi forces leave," she said.