Iran has evidence US and Israel had ‘big hand’ in unrest – Tehran

Foreign-backed infiltrators shot protesters and police to create pretext for invasion, according to foreign minister Abbas Araghchi

Iran has extensive evidence showing the US and Israel had a “big hand” in recent unrest in the country, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a meeting of foreign diplomats in Tehran on Monday.

The statement comes after violent clashes between protesters and the authorities erupted late last month, which have led to dozens of deaths among the Iranian security forces and civilian bystanders.

Multiple mosques, medical centers, and other buildings have been torched across the country.

According to Araghchi, nationwide protests “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for US President Donald Trump to intervene militarily in the country.

“We have many documents and pieces of evidence of US and Israeli involvement in the terrorist actions of recent days in Iran,” Araghchi stated.

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Araghchi added that armed operatives were seen among protesters asserting that Tehran “recorded audio messages received by those terrorist operatives giving them orders to fire on protesters … on security and police personnel … [and on] peaceful civilians.”

The Iranian foreign minister said that “many of those killed received gunshots from behind.” He noted that Tehran has substantial evidence that some operatives received direct orders from foreign powers, and insisted there is “living proof that the US and Israel have a big hand in these terrorist acts.”

Araghchi also claimed the infiltrators were aided by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, noting that “Mossad operatives speaking Farsi … [were] infiltrating these protests.”

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He also criticized Western governments, saying they condemned Iran’s police instead of the “terrorists.”

The remarks come after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the protests that erupted in Iranian cities on December 28, marking the worst unrest in recent years. Protests escalated into clashes with police, assaults on government buildings, and demands from some demonstrators for the restoration of the monarchy. In response, authorities shut down phone networks and the internet nationwide.

Last summer, the US joined an Israeli attack on several of the Islamic Republic’s biggest nuclear sites after accusing it of pursuing a nuclear weapon – allegations that Tehran denied, insisting that its program is purely peaceful.