The spokesman of Iran’s Judiciary announces the arrest of 40 foreign nationals, besides two French spies, over direct involvement in violent riots across the country.
Addressing a presser on Tuesday, Massoud Setayeshi said the 40 detained foreigners were present in street riots, and that they will face prosecution based on Iranian law when the investigations are over.
He elaborated on the enemy scenario for the riots, saying those behind the turmoil issue orders for murder and bloodshed via the cyber space and their media stations.
In reality, “the assassins cheer the shedding of the people’s blood on the streets, but they pin the blame on the guardians of security in their media outlets,” Setayeshi said.
The situation clearly shows that enemies have been frustrated and outraged by the people’s refusal to accompany them in their conspiracies and in their calls for industrial action.
“The enemy was plotting to drag [all walks of] the society to the scene by inciting doubts and resorting to hybrid warfare. They wanted to exploit the public capacity for protests, but they failed,” he said.
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The unrest and deadly riots broke out in mid-September amid anger in Iran over the death of a young woman in police custody, as many initially attributed the tragedy to police mistreatment.
Official investigations later acquitted the police, but rioters have kept up acts of violence.
Iran’s intelligence apparatus has found direct links between elements behind the riots with foreign parties.
According to a report, Iran, which has blamed “foreign adversaries” for protests sparked by the death of a woman in morality police custody, said on Tuesday 40 foreign nationals had been arrested for their role in the unrest.
The Islamic Republic has been gripped by nationwide protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on Sept. 16 after she was arrested for wearing clothes deemed “inappropriate”.
“So far, 40 foreign nationals have been arrested for their involvement in the protests,” Iran’s judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi told a televised news conference, without revealing their nationalities.
In September, Tehran said nine Europeans had been arrested for their involvement in the protests.
Tehran has blamed foreign enemies and their agents for orchestrating the protests, which have turned into a popular revolt by Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest challenges to the government since the 1979 revolution.
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