Several Ringleaders of Recent Riots Arrested in Tehran

Police officials in Tehran province announced that four more leaders of the recent riots have been identified and detained.

“The officers have identified 4 main culprits and provocateurs of riots in the towns of Tehran province who had blocked the roads, destroyed the governmental buildings and set fire at financial institutions and arrested them in their hideouts in separate operations after coordination with judicial authorities,” Commander of the Law Enforcement Police in the Western part of Tehran province Brigadier General Mohsen Khancherli said on Wednesday.

He added that the suspects have confessed to their acts of sabotage and attacks on police officers and have been handed over to the judiciary to stand trial.

On November 15, the government raised Iran’s extremely cheap gas price in order to moderate the national consumption rate, which stands at 110 million liters per day, 40 million liters above the maximum domestic requirement.

The government also announced a number of aid and subsidiary programs to protect vulnerable households from the adverse effects of the measure.

The price reform, required by Iranian legislature and essential as US-imposed sanctions seek to deplete Iran’s budgetary resources, had been long delayed due to concerns regarding the move’s probable backlash.

The measure’s adoption prompted initially peaceful protests, but riotous elements, abusing the situation, quickly entered the scene, destroying public property, setting ablaze banks and gas stations among other facilities, and opening fire on people and security forces.

Intelligence reports and eye-witness accounts showed that the rioters who had taken advantage of public protests against gasoline price hikes to stir chaos in the country were armed with different weapons.

The protest rallies of Iranian people against the gasoline rationing turned violent since the first hours of the gatherings after the rioters used weapons.