Demonstrators rally in support of Iranian antigovernment protests in Stockholm, Sweden, over the weekend.

Iran Live Blog: Foreign Minister Warns Foreigners Not To Foment Protests

January 08, 2018 03:07 GMT

Final Summary

-- A top Iranian judiciary official has said antigovernment protest leaders should be handed the harshest possible sentences, while President Hassan Rohani suggested demonstrations were driven by opposition to his ultraconservative rivals in the ruling elite.

-- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also weighed in on the matter, warning other countries not to foment insecurity in his country, echoing the official position of the Iranian government that the protests were fomented by the intelligence services of foreign states-- including the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

-- The United States has rejected Iran’s claims that Washington was behind the protests, which have led to the deaths of 22 people and the arrest of more than 1,700 others.

-- German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said the European Union will invite Zarif for talks about the widespread antigovernment protests that have roiled the country since December 2

-- Lawmaker Tayebeh Siavashi told the semiofficial ILNA news agency on January 8 that a 22-year-old man who was arrested by the police had died in prison. He said that he was informed by authorities that the detainee "committed suicide in jail."

-- Various Iranian officials have said that hundreds of detainees have been released, some after agreeing to sign a pledge not to "reoffend," the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

-- In other news, a senior Iranian education official says Iran intends to ban English-language classes from primary schools amid warnings from Islamic leaders that the language has led to a "cultural invasion" from the West.

Live blog by Golnaz Esfandiari with Farangis Najibullah and Frud Bezhan

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Tehran (GMT +3.5)

Report: Iranian intelligence agents killed

Three Iranian intelligence agents killed in western city of Piranshahr, according to a report by the semiofficial news agency Mehr via Reuters:

Three members of Iran's intelligence forces were killed in clashes in the western city of Piranshahr on Wednesday, Mehr news agency reported, citing a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.

The three died "in a fight with anti-revolutionary elements" the statement read.

The statement did not say if the fight was related to the anti-government protests in Iran.

Voices From Iran

AFP has interviewed Iranians about the protests:

Sakineh Eidi, a 37-year-old pharmacist in Tehran: "The poorer section of society is really under pressure. But I don't think [the protests] will continue. Even those who maybe acted emotionally, vandalising things and setting fire to public property, know that the smoke will get into everyone's eyes and that insecurity in the country is not in anyone's interest."

Soraya Saadaat, a 54-year-old jobless woman: "People have reached a stage where they can no longer tolerate this pressure from the authorities."

White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster

Trump's national security adviser:

VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviewed General H.R. McMaster, national security adviser, at the White House on Jan. 2, 2018.

McMaster said the Iranian government “pays more attention to exporting terrorism than it does to meeting the needs of its own people.”

He added: What’s most important now is for the whole world to tell Iran that they have to respect the rights of their citizens and allow them to demonstrate peacefully and not to engage in the kind of violence against the demonstrators that we saw back in 2009.”

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INFOGRAPHIC: Some of the key places and events as protests sweep across Iran (click to view)

INFOGRAPHIC: Iran Protests -- Then & Now (click to view)

Vice President Mike Pence's reaction to the protests in Iran:

Have the protests been coming?

BBC Persian says over the last six months protests were staged in at least 90 percent of cities that have been the scene of rallies in the last week.

More reaction from the United States

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi:

U.S. Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeting in Persian:

"#IranProtest result of regime that spent billions of $ to prop up Hezbollah, Assad & Huthi missiles instead of prosperity for own people."

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Iran Live Blog: Foreign Minister Warns Foreigners Not To Foment Protests