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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)

Video footage purportedly showing people protesting in the city of Esfahan, in central Iran, on January 4.

Video footage purportedly showing people protesting in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, via the BBC.

Iranian nationals rallying in the German city of Cologne in support of protesters in Iran.

Voices From Iran

Reuters has interviewed several Iranian protesters.

Maryam Azemi, 48, a mother of two in the city of Karaj near Tehran:

"I voted for [former reformist President Mohammad] Khatami and Rohani, hoping for change. Hoping for freedom. Hoping to live like a normal human being. But nothing has changed. I don’t trust anyone anymore."

"We waited so long for change in this country. We tried peaceful ways to bring change, like voting, but look at us now. The officials are competing with each other to rip us off.”

Protester Reza, 43, a father of three in the central city of Esfahan:

"I don’t want to harm my country but when I see those who run this country are so corrupt, I feel like I am being suffocated. They just talk. They accuse 'the enemies' of everything. I am not an enemy. I am an Iranian. I love my country. Stop stealing my money, my children’s money.”

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert has issued a statement on the continuing protests in Iran:

The Iranian people have been expressing their desire for dignified treatment, an end to corruption, improved transparency, and increased economic opportunities. Protestors have also demanded that the regime stop diverting the nation’s wealth to fund military adventurism abroad. Unfortunately, the government continues to imprison and kill those who are brave enough to venture into the street. It is limiting the flow of information into Iran, restricting free speech, and attempting to prevent the outside world from observing its own repression.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the deaths to date and the arrests of at least one thousand Iranians. We have ample authorities to hold accountable those who commit violence against protestors, contribute to censorship, or steal from the people of Iran. To the regime’s victims, we say: You will not be forgotten.

Footage showing security forces on the streets in the western city of Hamadan, which has been the scene of antigovernment protests.

Student activist reportedly arrested in Tehran

This footage purports to show a member of the IRGC in Tehran smashing the windows of a car on January 4, via Voice of America.

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