Iran Claims UK-Linked Arrests Reflect 'Destructive Role' In protests
Iran's foreign ministry said Monday the arrests of citizens linked to the UK reflected Britain's "destructive role" in the recent antigovernment protests.
Iran's foreign ministry said Monday the arrests of citizens linked to the UK reflected Britain's "destructive role" in the recent antigovernment protests.
Iran has accused Western countries, Israel and Saudi Arabia of fomenting the unrest by people from all walks of life in the country, one of the most sustained challenges to the country's ruling theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Asked by a reporter to comment on Sunday's announcement in Tehran of the arrest of seven people linked to Britain, foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: "Some countries, especially the one you mentioned, had an unconstructive role regarding the recent developments in Iran.
"Their role was totally destructive and incited the riots."
London’s Metropolitan police detained a man Monday near the office of Iran International under the Terrorism Act after warnings in November that elements connected with Tehran’s intelligence services were trying to target the network’s journalists.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that the seven, including some who held dual nationality, were arrested over anti-government protests that have rocked the country for over three months.
The British foreign ministry had said it was seeking further information from Iranian authorities on the reports that British-Iranian dual nationals had been arrested.
Tehran's allegations of foreign involvement in the protests have been accompanied by arrests of dozens of dual nationals, part of an official narrative designed to shift the blame away from the Iranian leadership.
In a press conference on Sunday, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said one of the “enemies’ plots” in the past few months was breaking the norms and redlines of the Islamic regime. He went on to threaten that people who unveil will be strictly confronted.
Emphasizing that observing hijab – or Islamic dress code – is legally mandatory, he said, "When the law mandates the observance of hijab for women in public places within the borders of the Islamic Republic, we cannot say that [the issue] is personal."
The law’s Montazeri referred to are what more than 50 percent of the people in Iran oppose, but they have no peaceful way of trying to change them, because the regime considers any such attempt a violation of the fundamental precepts of the clerical rule.
The attorney-general added that he believes the way to deal with those who remove the compulsory hijab "needs planning" and "cultural work” before resorting to legal action.
He repeated the regime’s propaganda line that describes the current wave of antigovernment protests sparked by death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini as a ploy by the West. The United States, United Kingdom, Israel and Saudi Arabia are called “enemies” in the discourse of the clerical regime.
Mahsa Amini was arrested by a patrol van enforcing hijab on streets and suffered a head trauma during her arrest and died in hospital a few days later, triggering the boldest challenge the regime has faced in its over 40 years of existence.
Montazeri also claimed that the final results of the investigation regarding the case of Mahsa Amini's death have not yet been given to her family.
His remarks came as he had earlier pretended it had abolished the the so-called ‘morality police,’. However, his Sunday remarks showed that the whole volte face was only a sham to control the nationwide unrest.
Many activists, such as US-based Masih Alinejad, debunked Montazeri’s claim as a sheer publicity stunt or even misinformation spread by a dictatorial regime that is about to fall.
Following the propaganda stunt about disbanding the ‘morality police’, foreign and Iranian media are full of interpretations of how the regime plans to both enforce the dress code regulations and at the same time appease protesters.
Western governments, including the UK, the US, and Canada, added the hijab law enforcement unit to their list of sanctioned entities. Despite the regime killing about 500 protesters and hanging two, Iran’s police chief threatened the people earlier in December with more "decisive" response in the coming days.
Many women in Iran are now appearing in public without the mandatory veil and regular police are not interfering in a sign that authorities are either unwilling to risk further confrontation with the public or find it impossible to deal with so many women undermining the rule all at the same time. Police forces have also become over-stretched during protests and many have resigned or have applied for early retirement.
Iran’s currency dropped to a new historic low on Sunday, breaking the 410,000 rial resistance point against the US dollar, prompting some parliament members to blame the presidential administration of Ebrahim Riaisi for the economic blow.
Parliament’s Sunday session was held behind closed doors when lawmakers, particularly members of the economic committee, briefed the parliament about the falling rial as well as the high rate of inflation. The explanations by the head of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Ali Salehabadi, and Ehsan Khandouzi, the minister of economic and financial affairs, were also delivered before the reporters were allowed to enter.
Mehdi Toghiani, the spokesman of the economic committee, said that one of the main reasons behind the rial’s unprecedented fall is the government’s insistence on ineffective policies, and especially the "mandatory determination of the exchange rate" and "increasing the money supply."
The parliament stacked with hardliners rarely criticizes the like-minded government, but as the crisis has rattled the public amid antigovernment protests, lawmakers tried to deflect blame from the legislature. Economists have long been warning of an impending meltdown, as the regime has failed to resolve its nuclear dispute with the United States, which maintains crippling sanctions on Iran.
Another lawmaker, Rouhollah Izadkhah slammed the 50-percent devaluation of the rial during the current administration, noting that the high demand for foreign currencies should not lead to higher prices for essential goods.
“The national currency of war-torn Syria is eight times higher than Iran’s because it has managed the unofficial (free) market,” he argued.
“The currency market is very turbulent and chaotic, and there is no clear prospect in the horizon, and it is not clear when the exchange rate will be recovered,” said another MP, Kamal Hosseinpour.
"What kind of sustainable economy the minister is talking about," he quipped, criticizing the ministry’s actions – or lack of action – in the currency market. “You cannot blame the enemy for all the problems of the country. What is the plan of the economic team of the government?” he said, urging President Ebrahim Raisi to intervene and introduce measures to control the prices.
Iran has been rocked by nationwide antigovernment protests since mid-September after a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, was killed in police custody. She was arrested for violating the country’s forced hijab rules. But since then, protests have turned against the ruling regime, with many Iranians demanding a secular and democratic form of government.
Opponents of the Islamic Republic have also urged people to withdraw their deposits from government banks to put further pressure on the government, which has been printing more money in recent years. The money supply has grown at an unprecedented pace since September.
