Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Sunday said that the nation and its security forces have ended the wave of unrest linked to anti-government protests that erupted last month.
In a statement on its Web site, the force blamed the unrest on the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as an exiled opposition group known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq and supporters of the monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Price hikes late last month sparked protests in a number of cities and towns, and at least 21 people have been killed in scattered clashes.
Photo: Reuters
Authorities in the past few days have said that the protests are waning, but the Associated Press could not independently verify the claim.
The Revolutionary Guard is a powerful paramilitary force loyal to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Many of the demonstrators protested against the Guard’s massive budget, its costly interventions across the region and against the supreme leader himself.
Hundreds of people have been detained since the protests began. They include about 90 university students, reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students’ News Agency.
Later on Sunday, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said that 70 of the detained protesters have been released on bail during the past 48 hours, adding that there would be more releases from detention, except for the main instigators of the riots who would be “dealt with seriously.”
Iranian lawmakers on Sunday held a closed session during which senior security officials briefed them on the protests and the conditions of the detainees, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
“It was emphasized that foreign elements, and in particular the United States, played a basic role in forming and manipulating the recent unrest,” IRNA quoted lawmaker Jalal Mirzaei as saying.
The US and Israel have supported the protests, but deny allegations of fomenting them.
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