As protests continued across Iran for a ninth day, the foreign ministry on Monday accused the United States and Israel of interfering in Iran’s internal affairs and encouraging violence through their public statements.
Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said statements by some American and Israeli officials amounted to interference in Iran’s internal affairs and incitement to violence under international norms and rejected what he described as foreign efforts to present themselves as supportive of the Iranian public.
“Actions or statements by figures such as the Israeli prime minister or certain radical and hardline US officials regarding Iran’s internal affairs amount, under international norms, to nothing more than incitement to violence, terrorism, and killing.”
Protests have been reported in 222 locations nationwide, including rallies in 78 cities across 26 provinces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday night aboard Air Force One that the United States is following developments in Iran very closely, warning: “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they are going to get hit very hard by the United States.”
Baghaei said Iranians remained deeply distrustful of Washington and Israel, citing past actions by the two countries and arguing that the public would not be swayed by what he called “deceptive rhetoric.”
He also said Iran would not base its security posture on remarks from Israeli officials, accusing Israel of misleading statements and signaling continued military vigilance.
“We are not going to trust or rely on the statements of officials from the Zionist regime,” he said. “The regime’s pattern of deception is clear to us.”
According to HRANA, at least 19 demonstrators and one member of security forces have been killed so far as the unrest continues.
