Pro-government rallies held in Iran to condemn recent violent acts during protests

While the US administration, led by President Donald Trump was quick in trying to build upon the protests in some Iranian cities, accusing the Iranian government of being indifferent to its own people, many Iranians went to the streets today to declare their support for the government.

کد خبر: ۷۶۱۲۹۹

تاریخ: ۱۳ دی ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۴:۳۵

Tabnak – While the US administration, led by President Donald Trump was quick in trying to build upon the protests in some Iranian cities, accusing the Iranian government of being indifferent to its own people, many Iranians went to the streets today to declare their support for the government.

Iranians from all walks of life have taken to the streets of several cities to renew their allegiance to the establishment and condemn the recent wave of deadly violence in some areas.

Holding banners and national flags, the demonstrators have chanted pro-government slogans during the mass rallies which were held in different towns and cities, including Ahvaz, Kermanshah, Bushehr, Abadan, Gorgan and Qom.

Meanwhile, as a notorious Paris-based group has started to support the unrests in Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on France to take immediate actions against the terrorist organization that is inciting violent protests in the Islamic Republic.

"We expect the French government to abide by its legal responsibility towards this terrorist group along the lines of battling terrorism and violence," Rouhani made the call during a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

The MKO is the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians because of its dark history of assassinations and bombings, and for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

While stressing that no country would neglect public security, Rouhani also noted that promotion of violence is separate from a nation's legitimate right to express its demands and criticism.

On the other hand, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Islamic Republic's security and stability depend on its own people, adding that "infiltrators" will not be permitted to violate the rights of the Iranians.

"Iran's security and stability depend on its own people, who — unlike the peoples of [US President Donald] Trumps regional "bffs”—have the right to vote and to protest," Zarif said in a post on his official Twitter account on Tuesday. He emphasized that the Iranian people would protect their "hard-earned rights" and would never let infiltrators "sabotage them through violence and destruction."

In another related development, after the US urged the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the recent developments in Iran, the UNSC said the 15-member body is currently not planning to hold such a meeting.

“Iran is not in the agenda of the Security Council, but if any member wants to raise this issue and discuss it, of course, we will be ready to work on this. So, it depends on how the Security Council agrees on that,” Kairat Umarov said at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday.

Since the last week, a number of peaceful protests over economic grievances has started in several Iranian cities, but those gatherings suspiciously changed color and turned ugly when groups of participants, some of them armed, launched attacks on public property, police stations and religious sites.

Over a dozen people have been killed in the ensuing violence, according to state media reports.