TEHRAN – Army Chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi says the armed forces have been trained to counter the enemy’s sedition in Iran.

“The necessary training has been given for the forces, and of course the necessary preparedness has been attained,” General Mousavi said on Monday, Mehr reported.

“Sedition at different branches, dimensions and shapes threaten the Islamic Iran,” he said, adding that the armed forces, backed by the people, should fight and defeat Iran’s enemies.

The general said the armed forces have recognized the measures which must be taken in order to counter the enemy’s sedition.

He pointed to the recent unrest across the country, saying the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acted as a guard against the enemies in order to preserve security.

On November 15, protests erupted in some cities in Iran against increasing gasoline price. In certain cases, the protests turned violent as some rioters clashed with police, using knives and guns.

Rioters damaged public and private property and put banks and state buildings on fire.

The protests lasted just for a few days.

Early estimates of an intelligence body showed that a sum of nearly 87,000 protesters and rioters had taken part in protest rallies and gatherings when the price increase went into effect. 

A large number of protesters, that over 93% of them were men, had only been present in the gathering centers and avoided joining the rioters.

The Intelligence Ministry announced in a statement last week that it had identified several rioters who misused the protest rallies.

“The main culprits behind the riots… have been identified and proper measures are being adopted and the honorable nation will be informed about its result later,” the statement said.  

Soon after the protests erupted, Ayatollah Khamenei supported the government’s decision, putting an end to doubts and possible moves to reverse the decision.

The Leader said he had previously announced that since he was not an expert on the issue, he would support any decision made by heads of the three branches of government and the experts.

In his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei urged the authorities to take good care of the affected people and assuage the hardship caused by the move.

He also called on the people to take note of the enemies’ plots to disrupt security and take a separate path from the rebels that try to foment insecurity in the country.

MH/PA