TEHRAN: Enemies of Iran in recent days have utilized various means, including money, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatuses, to create problems for the Islamic system, a Tuesday report on the website of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei quoted him as saying.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, who has the final say on all state matters, did not name any country but said he would explain more in the near future.
This is the first time Khamenei has commented publicly since protests over inflation and economic corruption began on Thursday in Mashhad and spread to other cities.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani, however, named the Saudi government and its allies as the forces behind the recent unrest in Iran that has left at least 12 dead, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
Speaking in an interview withPress TV, Shamkhani accused the Kingdom as well as the United States and Great Britain of waging a proxy war against Iran through Twitter and other social media website.
“Based on our analyses, around 27 percent of the new hashtags against Iran are generated by the Saudi government,” he said in the interview.
Shamkhani was also quoted as saying that “Iran’s progress in different spheres” is the reason its rivals are scheming against the Islamic republic.
The SNSC secretary, however, made it clear that Tehran is not bothered by the recent wave of protests and that things would boil down to normal in a matter of days.
“What is happening in Iran will be over in a few days, and there is no reason to worry at all,” Shamkhani said.
Iran’s judiciary chief orders serious measures to deal with rioters
Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani on Monday ordered the country’s prosecutors to take serious measures in dealing with the rioters vandalizing public properties amid the recent civil protests.
Addressing a gathering of senior Judiciary officials o Monday, Ayatollah Amoli Larijani stressed the need for measures to prevent rioters from damaging the public and private properties.
He also called on the prosecutors across the country to monitor the situation closely, steer those pursuing legitimate demands towards the lawful methods, and get tough with the vandals and arsonists destroying public and private properties and violating the rights of others.
The judicial executives would not tolerate acts of vandalism like attacks on mosques, banks, and government buildings, the Judiciary chief added, reiterating that chaos will never help the pursuit of demands.
Denouncing the “opportunistic” individuals for taking advantage of the protests to create chaos and vandalize the properties, Ayatollah Amoli Larijani blamed the officials of the US, Britain and a number of other countries for repeating the past mistakes and supporting unrest in Iran.
He finally reminded the US, UK and the others voicing support for rioters in Iran that the vigilant Iranian nation will take strong action if the country’s security is threatened.
More than a dozen deaths have so far been confirmed in the ongoing protests in Iran, with reports of armed protesters trying to take over police stations and military bases.
More than 400 people have been arrested in the four days of protest across Iran.
Police arrested a number of demonstrators who were trying to damage public property in the gatherings.
According to Article 27 of the Iranian Constitution, “public gatherings and marches are allowed so long as the participants do not carry arms and are not in violation of the fundamental principles of Islam.”
Following the civil rallies, some Western and Arab media outlets tried to portray the protests as a political uprising against the Establishment.
On Monday evening, a number of Iranian cities saw anti-riot public demonstrations, with people calling for calm and an end to the sporadic urban unrest.
