President Rouhani: Rioters Supported by US, Israel

“The number of people who had taken to the streets was clear, and there were only a few hooligans were among them; but the hooligans were well organized and armed, acting on behalf of the regional reactionaries, the Zionists and Americans,” Rouhani said, addressing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

“As the Leader said, our people have foiled the enemies’ plots in face of different incidents, and they became victorious in the recent plots that the enemies had hatched,” he added.

President Rouhani also lauded the Iranian nation’s unity in thwarting enemies’ most recent plot, which was aimed at undermining the country’s security under the disguise of fuel price hike protests.

“Today, I want to thank the great Iranian nation for its vigilance and bow before them because of their patience and timeliness,” Rouhani said.

“The people of Iran passed another historic test and proved that despite economic problems and discontent they may have with the management of the country, they will never let enemies to take advantage of the situation,” he added.

Rouhani noted that the government wants the lower-income classes take advantage of the fuel subsidies more than those who do not need it, and said, “The goal was to pay an amount to 18 million lower-income and middle-class households.”

“In these incidents, people proved that they know the conspiracies of the enemies and terrorists, and are not deceived by them.”

“Despite the enemies’ pressures this year and last year, people showed that they are sensitive towards their national interests and security, as well as their integrity and solidarity,” he said.

It turned out that the Iranian nation’s enemies have hired mercenaries to inflict damages on people’s lives and livelihood, and they did not even show mercy towards children, Rouhani said, adding, “This shows that this small group have acted against the country, homeland and national interests”.

“The Iranian nation always show the world their vigilance, unity and solidarity with the entire state, and we should always give ear to people’s criticisms,” he continued.

Appreciating the people of Iran and the Supreme Leader, he said, “The Leader guided people and unveiled the truth with his wise remarks. The government will continue to cooperate and consult with the other two branches in important affairs.”

Rouhani also went on to appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Interior, governor generals, governors and ministries that have been working hard to serve people.

“Our country’s devoted forces showed that they do not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the security and protecting people’s properties and peace,” he said.

“We should act decisively against mercenaries who act against our security so that our country will move towards excellence and development and security,” he underlined.

Some of the thugs arrested in the recent riots in the Central province of Isfahan have admitted their links to foreign intelligence services, a security official said on Wednesday.

“A number of outlaws who wanted to misuse the popular protests and demands in Isfahan on Saturday were detained,” the official told FNA on condition of anonymity.

“The official added that the outlaws attempted to distort tranquility and public security in an organized way and have confessed their links with the foreign spy agencies after detention,” the official added.

The official lamented the huge damage inflicted on the province by the rioters, but said precise figures of the overal damages will be released later.

Another senior Iranian security official also said on Tuesday that thugs arrested during the recent riots confessed that they received $60 for each place set on fire.

“One such instance pertains to a number of thugs arrested in one of the provinces who were given an advance payment of 300,000 tomans (nearly $30) to stage an arson attack and another 300,000 tomans once they did the mission,” Commander of Hamedan province’s Law Enforcement Police Brigadier General Bakhsh Ali Kamrani Saleh said.

He underlined the necessity for increasing vigilance so that people’s righteous demands will not be misused by the rioters.

Iran’s Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmayeeli announced on Tuesday that calm had been restored to the country after the recent riots that started following the government’s gas price hike plan.

“Thanks to the Leader’s remarks, efforts by the security and Law Enforcement Police forces and people’s vigilance who separated their way from the ill-wishers and violence-seekers, calm has been restored in the country,” Esmayeeli told reporters in Tehran.

“A large number of saboteurs and rioters and those who set fire at public properties and played a role in the destructions have been identified,” he added.

Riots by a small number who had taken advantage of legitimate public protests against the government’s gas price hike plan in Iran were directed at sowing chaos through targeted attacks on public and private properties, forcing law enforcement to step in to stop saboteurs.

Early estimates of an intelligence body showed that a sum of nearly 87,000 protesters and rioters had taken part in protest rallies and gatherings since Friday night, mostly (over 93%) men. A large number of protesters had only been present in the gathering centers and avoided joining the rioters in sabotage attacks on public and private properties.

“The identical methods of the main core of violent rioters discloses that they are fully trained individuals who have been prepared and looking forward for the situation to rise, unlike most people who have been taken off guard by the sudden hike in gas price,” the report said.

The report showed that gatherings have been comprised of 50 to 1,500 people held in 100 regions of the country out of a number of 1,080 major towns and cities. The report says violent raids and damage inflicted on properties has been larger than what happened in February 2018 unrests.

Most cases of damage to properties had happened in Khuzestan, Tehran, Fars and Kerman provinces. The report says most casualties have resulted from armed outlaws’ attacks on oil storage and military centers, adding that a number of police and popular forces have been martyred in these attacks.

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested across the country while over 100 banks and 57 big stores were set on fire or plundered in just one province.

The Iranian intelligence ministry announced in a statement on Sunday that it had identified several rioters who misused the recent protest rallies against the gasoline price hikes to destroy public and private properties.

“The main culprits behind the riots in the past two days have been identified and proper measures are being adopted and the honorable nation will be informed about its result later,” the statement said.