TEHRAN, Iran / ISTANBUL
Iran’s judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei on Monday vowed “no leniency” toward what he called “rioters” seeking to incite unrest amid ongoing protests fueled by economic hardships in the country.
Speaking at an event in Tehran, Ejei said that while authorities remain open to hearing protesters and critics on their concerns about social and economic welfare, “rioters and instigators” would be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law.
A new wave of protests was reported in Tehran and other major cities across Iran on Sunday, driven by economic hardships.
The demonstrations first began last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar – the heart of the capital’s business activity – and have since spread to several other cities.
While largely peaceful, some protests have seen violent incidents, with reports indicating a death toll of more than a dozen, including both protesters and security personnel.
At the core of the unrest is the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial, which has fallen to an unprecedented low of 1,390,000 rials per US dollar. This currency collapse has triggered record inflation and soaring prices for essential goods and housing.
While local media reports indicate that protest gatherings have subsided in Tehran over the past few days following a series of arrests, demonstrations continue in other cities.
In Tehran, which has a population of about 10 million, protests have been reported mainly in the northeast and northwest of the city.
Western cities of Iran have been the most affected, with angry protesters even attacking public infrastructure and police stations and engaging in pitched street battles.
Ejei claimed that the US and Israel have now “openly and explicitly supported the unrest” in the country.
In directives to judicial authorities, the judiciary chief said the cases of those who are accused of other “crimes” during the protests, including carrying firearms or cold weapons, must be “promptly and carefully examined and completed in prosecutors’ offices.”
He also ordered the provincial chief justices to designate specialized branches to handle such cases.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Command in the western Lorestan province, warned that “tolerance” for those behind the protests has ended.
In a statement, the IRGC accused protesters of “acts of sabotage targeting public property and citizens’ vehicles, the open use of military weapons,” and attempts to carry out plots “aimed at taking lives,” the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
It described the protesters as “agents of the enemies of the Iranian state” and vowed to hold the “instigators, organizers, and leaders of these anti-security events” accountable “under the law as soon as possible.”
On Sunday, Iran’s police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, told reporters that the protests initially emerged as a legitimate economic grievance by bazaar merchants but gradually evolved into “street riots.”
He announced the arrest of “riot leaders” in the past two days, including those active on social media, whom he accused of inciting the crowds.
Sources indicate that most protesters are young people, and many of them have been released after warnings, while those leading the protests remain in custody.
- ‘Soft war’
Iranian officials have accused “external forces,” specifically Israel’s Mossad, of involvement in the protests – the worst since 2022 when a young girl’s death sparked countrywide protests.
At a weekly press conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Israel is “always looking to exploit any opportunity to sow division” within Iran.
He condemned statements by Israeli and American officials about the ongoing protests, describing them as encouragements of “violence, terrorism, and murder.”
Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, earlier warned that US interference in Iran would destabilize the Middle East and damage American interests, responding to US President Donald Trump’s threat to “come to the rescue” of Iranian protesters if lethal force were used against them.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, addressing an open session on Monday, also stressed that public grievances must be heard, but warned that “elements linked to foreign spy services seeking to hijack protests” must be dealt with firmly, according to Iranian media.
On Sunday, Iran’s top military commander, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, linked the ongoing protests to Israel and the US, accusing them of waging “soft war” aimed at destabilizing the country.
