Senior Cleric Blasts US, Israel for Inciting Violence in Iran

Rasa - Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami strongly blasted Washington and Tel Aviv for their plots to turn the people's peaceful gatherings in Iran into violence and riots.

News ID: 435636

Date: 05 January 2018 - 23:48

RNA - Addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people on Tehran University campus on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami said, "They wanted to create a new Israel in the region, but Iran thwarted their plots; the whole story is that Saudi Arabia financed a scenario by the US to gradually dispatch weapons into Iran from Herat in Afghanistan and Erbil in Iraq in a bid to achieve their goal next month (concurrent with the anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution."

"In the recent US sedition, Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime were racing in their support for violence-seekers," he added.

Ayatollah Khatami reiterated that the US was plotting to compensate for its defeats in the region, and said, "The US has been continuously defeated on the international scenes."

Last week, a number of peaceful protests began in several areas across the country, with the participants calling on authorities to address their economic issues.

However, the economic protests in a number of Iranian towns in the past few days turned into riots each comprised of a few hundred protesters after the peaceful gatherings were overshadowed when armed elements and vandals showed up among ordinary protesters and began to launch attacks on public property, police stations and religious sites.

The original protesters soon left the streets upon calls by the authorities so security forces could deal with the rioters and sporadic violence, which continued in some towns and cities for several days.

Then on Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of Iranian people in different cities and towns poured to the streets to condemn the recent riots and chaos in the country and show support for the Islamic Revolution.

People across the country, including Khuzestan, Qom, Kermanshah, Ilam, Gilan, Alborz, Lorestan, North Khorassan, Golestan and Hamedan provinces, gathered in important squares and streets of their cities and towns to show unity and deplore hijack of the recent economic protests in Iran by rioters in the country.

They chanted "Death to the US", "Death to Israel" and "Death to the Seditionist" slogans to condemn US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's support for the recent riots in Iran.

They also carried placards which called on the government to pay attention to the legal demands of the people to improve life standards, create more jobs and decrease inflation.

On Thursday, millions of Iranian people across the country held fresh rallies to voice support for the Islamic Republic and denounce violence and riots.

Demonstrators flooded the cities in towns and cities, including, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Rasht, Birjand, Babol, Hamedan, Neishabour, Chalous, Yasouj, Ardabil and Uroumiyeh, for the second consecutive day yesterday.

Demonstrators were holding up national flags and portraits of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, shouting pro-establishment slogans.

The participants also held the US and the Israeli regime responsible for the recent wave of violence in Iran.

Similar rallies were held in a number of other Iranian cities on Wednesday, while people in the capital, Tehran, are set to hold a demonstration after Friday prayers.

Ayatollah Khamenei warned on Tuesday that the enemies have mobilized all their power and tools to hit a blow at Iran, alluding to certain foreign states' role in the recent riots in the country.

"The enemy has always been waiting for an opportunity and a breach to enter and hit a blow to the Iranian nation," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing the families of the Iranian martyrs in Tehran.

"During the events in the past few days, the enemies of Iran allied to create problem for the Islamic Republic by different tools in their hands, including money, weapons, policy and security organizations," he added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the nation's spirit of bravery, sacrifice and faith blocks the enemy and its hostilities, adding that he will speak with people about the recent protests and unrests in Iran in due time.

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