Footage of the incident, seen by The Canberra Times, shows Hamid Sotounzadeh in handcuffs and appearing unresponsive while police officers held him in the recovery position.

Another video taken by Mr Sotounzadeh shortly beforehand appears to show the Australian Federal Police manhandle him to the ground during a heated exchange after he repeatedly approached an officer while being told to "get back".

Australian Federal Police confirmed there was an incident on Thursday morning, saying the man had behaved in an "aggressive manner towards the AFP" before he was arrested.

Mr Sotounzadeh had been travelling from Melbourne to protest outside the Iranian Embassy in O'Malley for 15 weeks, against the Islamic Republic's treatment of protesters in Iran.

At around 6.20am, Mr Sotounzadeh said he was standing outside the embassy on the footpath, holding his phone and an umbrella when two Protective Service Officers approached him.

"He said, 'You're suspicious for the business and interests of the Iranian Embassy and you're threatening, we have to remove you from here'. I said, 'I have nothing threatening. I have the umbrella and phone in my hand'," Mr Sotounzadeh said.

He alleged the officer then grabbed and dragged him to the other side of the street before the officer started pushing him and hitting his chest.

"Then he tackled me on the ground and then I hit the back of my the head on the ground and I don't know what happened after that. I was just saying, 'I can't breathe. I can't breathe, don't hit'.

"One of them was hitting me, sitting on me and hitting me with a knee and the other one tried to put the handcuffs on me and I said, 'Don't hit me, I can't breathe'. He said, 'No, don't resist'. I said, 'My back is broken'."

Mr Sotounzadeh said he was in shock and lost consciousness while on the ground in the rain as police stood over him.

"They said I've been there for one hour on the ground. I don't know what happened after that. I'm just looking at the footage now and I was definitely concussed for a long time," he said.

READ MORE:

He said he eventually regained consciousness when an ambulance arrived and he was moved.

An AFP spokesperson confirmed officers on duty at the Iranian Embassy on Thursday morning detained a person for a short period of time.

"The person behaved in an aggressive manner towards the AFP members and was arrested for failing to comply with a lawful direction," a spokesperson said.

"The person was handcuffed for a brief period of time, however, complained of back pain. The handcuffs were removed to ensure the health and wellbeing of the person."

Mr Sotounzadeh said the Australian Federal Police had spoken to him on Wednesday about him pointing a "stick symbolic of their revenge in Iran" towards the embassy.

"He said, 'Don't point this out to people because they might feel threatened'. And I said, 'OK, that's alright'," Mr Sotounzadeh said.

He also said embassy staff tried to run him over on the footpath last week and the incident was being investigated by police.

Mr Sotounzadeh was released from custody and taken to Canberra Hospital on Thursday morning and was assessed as having minimally displaced fractures on three bones in his left ribcage.

The Greens would like to see an urgent independent inquiry launched into the actions of the federal police.

Greens Justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said an "urgent independent investigation" should be launched into the incident after witnessing footage of the incident.

"I have seen the peaceful, creative nature of the political protests by the Australian Iranian community over these past months and it is extremely hard to see what could have possibly justified this violent arrest," Senator Shoebridge said.

"What makes this incident even more troubling is that the Australian Iranian community is protesting appalling state violence in Iran and are met by violent police action on the streets of Canberra."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: