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

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)

Iranian police have asked people to send photos and videos of "trouble-makers," local media reported, and to identify suspects already caught on camera.

Pro-government rallies

State media have released photos of pro-government rallies in several cities, including Tabriz, in northwestern Iran. It marked the third day of such demonstrations.

More from hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami, who is speaking during Friday prayers in Tehran, via AP.

Khatami called on Iran to create its own indigenous social media websites, blaming Western apps for the unrest that followed days of protests.

Khatami said that "the nation does not support a social network that its key is in the hand of the United States." He also said he believed anyone who burned Iran's flag should be sentenced to death.

More from hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami, who is speaking during Friday prayers in Tehran.

Students Arrested

RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports that at least 37 Iranian students have been arrested in recent days amid nationwide antigovernment protests.

Friday Prayers

Hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami is speaking after Friday prayers at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Mosque in Tehran.

He backs the government's blocking of social media in a bid to disrupt the spread of information about the protests.

Latest from RFE/RL's news desk

Pro-government demonstrators plan to take to the streets of Iran again on January 5 ahead of a United Nations Security Council emergency meeting about deadly antigovernment protests in the country during the past week.

Reports in Western media about antigovernment demonstrations in Iran have decreased since Tehran blocked key social media sites used by the protesters to spread video of the earlier unrest.

But RFE/RL has obtained credible reports on January 5 from sources in Iran about ongoing demonstrations against Iran's clerical rulers in Tehran and other cities -- the strongest challenge to the country’s Islamic leadership in almost a decade.

Iranian state media has not been covering the antigovernment demonstrations since Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed on January 3 that the demonstrations were over.

But state media has reported that the IRGC is continuing to deploy security forces in different parts of the country.

At least 22 people have been killed in clashes between the antigovernment demonstrators and security forces and more than 1,000 protesters reportedly have been arrested.

State media also has been reporting on pro-government rallies organized by authorities in recent days.

Iranian state media says about 40 pro-government rallies were expected in Tehran Province after Friday prayers on January 5.

The UN Security Council was due to meet later on January 5 at the behest of the United States and over strong objections raised by Russia.

Antigovernment Protest In Mashhad

Footage has emerged of a protest late January 4 in the city of Mashhad, where the protests first began on December 28.

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