The Iranian government on Thursday accused Israel and other «Western» countries of planning «a civil war», a day after at least seven people were killed in an attack on a market in the southwestern town of Izeh.
«Various security services, the fake Israeli regime and some Western politicians have planned a civil war, destruction and disintegration of Iran,» Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amirabdolahian said in a message on his Twitter account.
Amirabdolahian has stressed that these people «should know that Iran is not Libya or Sudan» and reiterated that «enemies have attacked Iran’s integrity and Iranian identity.» «The intelligence of the population has caused the enemy’s deception.»
The director general of the Justice Department of Khuzestan province, Ali Dehqani, detailed earlier Thursday that three people have been detained for their alleged connection to the attack in Izeh.
Dehqani also stressed that «efforts» are underway to «identify and capture other elements connected to the incidents», as reported by the Iranian news agency Mehr.
For his part, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hosein Salami, has stated that «the enemies’ dreams about the separation of Iran and the division of the Iranian nation will not come true». «Islamic Iran is on the verge of becoming a world power and we are moving in this direction with unity and integrity,» he concluded.
Iran has charged in recent weeks that Western countries were behind the wave of demonstrations over the September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a woman detained in the capital, Tehran, for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly.
The news portal Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) estimates that more than 15,000 people have been taken into police custody, either temporarily or so far, since the outbreak of the protests, which have claimed the lives of more than 330 people, including about 50 security forces personnel.
