Iran interior minister tasked with preparing report on recent violence

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says it has tasked the interior minister with preparing a detailed report on the recent wave of violence that hit some areas of the country.

During a cabinet session on Wednesday, Rouhani said he had delegated Abdolreza Rahmani to compile a comprehensive report within one week on the violence as well as the individuals arrested, injured or killed during the the course of the unrest.

Nearly two weeks ago, some peaceful protests were held in certain Iranian cities against rising prices and the overall economic condition of the country. Limited numbers of violent individuals, some of them armed, later sought to turn the peaceful protests into street riots. However, the original protesters soon heeded calls by authorities to leave the streets so that their activities would not play into the hands of violent rioters.

General Saeed Montazer-al-Mahdi, a police spokesman, said on Sunday that a total of 20 people, including a police officer, had lost their lives in the violence.

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• Main plotters of recent Iran unrest detained: Police

Meanwhile, Iranians took to the streets in large numbers over the course of several days to express their support for the Islamic establishment and condemn the unrest.

PressTV-Iranians stage more pro-establishment rallies

Iranians stage several rallies across the country for a sixth consecutive day to express their faith in the Islamic establishment and decry the recent wave of riots that hit some areas.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani assured the Iranian nation that tackling economic problems and restoring the rights of the people were high on the agenda of his administration.

“The main approach of the administration in the budget bill for the year 1397 (the next Iranian year beginning on March 21, 2018) is to create jobs and move towards uprooting absolute poverty, and following the emphasis of the Leader, people expect all branches of the government, organizations and bodies to help the immediate realization of those goals and restoration of the rightful demands of people through sympathy and friendship,” he said.

The Iranian president noted that problems had not been created overnight and they were the result of mismanagement in the past, urging all to join hands to dissuade enemies from achieving their plots and to help the government revitalize economy.

In a meeting with a large group of people on Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said a “triangle” of enemies -- with the United States and Israel comprising one of its sides, a rich Persian Gulf littoral state on its second side and the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terror organization on the third side -- had been plotting for the past few months to foment chaos and violence in Iran.

PressTV-Leader: Enemy triangle created recent unrest in Iran

Ayatollah Khamenei hails the Iranian people’s vigilance vis-à-vis enemy plots to stoke unrest in the country, which they demonstrated through days of pro-establishment rallies.

The Leader said Americans and Zionists had been working on the plot for several months while the cash came from one of the “filthy rich Persian Gulf littoral states” and the "murderous" MKO helped the plot.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it had arrested more individuals involved in inciting violence, killing people, vandalizing public property, disturbing peace and attacking religious centers.

It also said that it had confiscated weapons, munitions and explosives from rioters.