Israel is upset as Iran succeeded in containing the popular protests and US efforts to ignite and stoke anger have failed
The Israeli media reported on Saturday, that “the authorities in Iran succeeded in extinguishing the wave of protests, as there is a very clear decline in their size and strength,” noting that “the US efforts didn’t work”.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that protest rallies had fallen by 90% in most parts of Iran, after rallies in support of the regime took place.
Arab affairs commentator on Israel’s Channel 12, Ehud Yaari, said: “Unfortunately, the authorities in Iran succeeded in putting a heavy blanket (meaning extinguishing them) on the wave of protests that included Iranian cities, which included attacks against government centers, and attacks with Molotov cocktails against the Basij forces that disperse the demonstrations.
He added, “The Americans are making efforts to open the Internet, which was closed by the Iranian authorities to disrupt social networks, but this didn’t help, and we see a very clear decline in the size and strength of the demonstrations, as well as in the violent side of them”.
Last Friday, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi said that “some social media platforms directed the riots and ignited the fire of the battle”.
The Iranian minister explained that “multiple parts of the riots were the result of training these sites,” stressing that the Ministry of the Interior “put temporary restrictions on the communication sites to maintain the security of the country and the security of the people”.
Subsequently, the US Treasury issued “directives to expand the range of Internet services available to Iranians despite US sanctions on the country”.
Commenting on the US measures, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Saturday, that the United States “has always sought to target Iran’s security and stability, but it has always failed to do so”.
Kanaani added that “the United States, by reducing the severity of some of the sanctions related to communications, while maintaining its maximum pressure, is trying in a hypocritical manner to pass its anti-Iran goals,” stressing that “the efforts to violate Tehran’s sovereignty will not go unanswered”.
In turn, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that “officials of the various countries I met described the Islamic Republic as an island of stability in the volatile region”.
In a tweet via Twitter, Abdullahian added that “Iran’s stability and solidity are being targeted by abusers under any pretext,” noting that “the great Iranian people’s insight is well known, and without a doubt, the enemy won’t reach his goal”.
Mass demonstrations took place in Tehran and Iranian cities on Friday, raising slogans in support of the Islamic Republic, and rejecting the riots that took advantage of the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, which caused deaths and injuries among the security forces and civilians.
Kanaani had commented on the American and European interference in the case of the Iranian young woman, Mahsa Amini, saying that “countries that have a long history of provoking wars and dealing with violence globally, lack the legitimacy to provide advice to others on human rights”.
Iran witnessed demonstrations denouncing the death of the young woman, while the governor of Tehran, Mohsen Mansouri, announced the presence of foreign nationals among the detainees in connection with the recent protests, adding that “the effects of the interference of some embassies and foreign spy devices can be clearly seen”.
Last Friday, the Iranian Minister of Interior, Ahmed Vahidi, said that “reports, evidence and medical examinations confirm that Mahsa Amini wasn’t beaten nor insulted”.
The Iranian police had posted a video taken by surveillance cameras documenting the last moments of the young woman, Amini, at the police station.
Tehran police said the footage proves that 22-year-old Amini wasn’t subjected to any violence or physical abuse.
