Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

People foiled ‘very dangerous’ plot, says Iran supreme leader

1381372
1381372
minus
plus

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday praised the country’s people for foiling a “very dangerous” plot after violence erupted during protests this month against a fuel price hike.


The demonstrations first flared on November 15, hours after a midnight shock announcement that petrol prices would immediately go up by as much as 200 per cent in the sanctions-hit country.


The unrest soon turned violent and saw protesters attack police stations, torch petrol pumps and loot shops, before being quashed within a few days.


Iranian officials have confirmed five people were killed and so far announced about 500 arrests, including of some 180 “ringleaders.”


Iran has blamed the street violence on “thugs” backed by its foreign enemies, including the United States, Israel and the People’s Mujahideen of Iran, an exiled opposition group it considers a “terrorist” cult.


“The people foiled a deep, vast and very dangerous conspiracy on which a lot of money was spent for destruction, viciousness and the killing of people,” Khamenei said, quoted by state television.


The Iranian leader was speaking at a gathering of the Basij.


On Twitter, Khamenei expressed his “heartfelt gratitude and appreciation” to the Iranian nation in a post that featured pictures of a massive pro-government rally held in Tehran on Monday.


“The people proved again that they are powerful and great, and defeated the big conspiracy of the enemy with their presence on the scene,” it said.


“Police and security forces... performed their duty, but what the nation did during this week was more important than any other measure,” said another tweet.


The tweets blamed the unrest on the “#GlobalArrogance and #Zionism”.


The United States said it had received thousands of messages from Iran about protests after appealing to demonstrators to defy restrictions on the Internet.


“We’ve received to date nearly 20,000 messages, videos, pictures, notes of the regime’s abuses through Telegram messaging services,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, referring to the encrypted app.


Iran has yet to respond.


Long-fraught links between Tehran and Washington plunged to a new low in May last year when the US unilaterally withdrew from an international accord that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.


In its report released in Beirut, Human Rights Watch accused Iran of “deliberately covering up the scale of the mass crackdown against protesters.” — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon