As intensified anti-government protests continue to rock Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said “rioters” should not be allowed to disrupt society. This is the first time the President spoke after three nights of intensified protests against the clerical government.
As the agitation rages, at 538 people have died since the protests started last month, the Associated Press reported citing activists.
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The protests in Iran began on December 28 from a few markets in capital Tehran over economic woes. The stir gained momentum in the coming days as university students joined the agitation over Iran’s rising inflation and falling Rial value.
The protests that flared up from Thursday as massive crowds of people poured out on streets that coincided with exiled prince Reza Pahlavi‘s call for stronger protests against the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
What did the Iranian President say?
On Sunday, Pezeshkian in an interview with state TV said “protesting is the people’s right”. However, he maintained what the Iranian government has been saying about the protests, drawing a line between outcry over Iran’s dwindling economy and “rioters”, who they allege are backed by the United States and Israel.
“The people (of Iran) should not allow rioters to disrupt society. The people should believe that we (the government) want to establish justice,” he told state broadcaster IRIB as he called on Iranians to “come together and not let these people riot” on the streets.
“If people have a concern we will hear them, it is our duty to hear them and solve their problems. However, our highest duty is to not allow rioters to come and disrupt the society,” he said.
Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of “trying to escalate this unrest with regard to the economic discussion and solutions we are working on”.
“They have taken some people here inside and abroad and trained them. They brought terrorists in from abroad into the country,” he said, calling those who had allegedly set a mosque on fire “not human”.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei last week had issued a strong warning saying that “rioters must be put in their place”.
What is happening in Iran?
Since Thursday, massive crowds have taken to streets as resentment continues to grow against the clerical government that has been in place since the ouster of last Shah following the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The intensified stir prompted the government to snap internet and telephone lines, pushing Iran into a communication blockade.
US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) on Sunday said that over 200 people, including women and children, have violently been arrested by the police.
“The pattern of protests in the capital has largely taken the form of scattered, short-lived, and fluid gatherings, an approach shaped in response to the heavy presence of security forces and increased field pressure,” HRANA said.
“Reports were received of surveillance drones flying overhead and movements by security forces around protest locations, indicating ongoing monitoring and security control,” it added.
Videos of protests are being shared online and are believed to be sent out likely using Starlink satellite transmitters. The Associated Press cited one such footage from Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, showing protesters confronting security forces.
Iranian state television on Sunday morning had their correspondents appear on the streets in several cities to show calm areas with a date stamp shown on screen. Tehran and Mashhad were not included.
With inputs from agencies
