On January 5, thousands of Iranians continued their protests against the government in many areas across the country. Iranian activists said that the northern city of Tabriz witnessed the biggest protest and clashes between the protestors and local security forces.
Today, when #Basij militias attacked protesters in #Tabriz, protesters defended themselves via throwing stones at them. Islamic regime believes this is good for Palestinians but bad to be done by people of Iran!!! #IranProtests #FreeIran pic.twitter.com/0iHkzxZZH4
— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) January 5, 2018
The Iranian authorities arrested over 90 students of Tehran University for protesting, according to Iranian activists. Other Iranian sources said the Iranian authorities only arrested the protestors violating the law.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Iranians took at the streets in the major Iranian cities, including Tehran, to stress their support to the current Iranian government, according to Iranian State TV. The marchers also condemned the US intervention in the internal affairs of Iran.
Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the protest in Iran upon a request from the US. During the emergency meeting most UN members, including US allies like France, stressed their support to the Iranian government.
However, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley emphasized the US support for the anti-government protestors in Iran and described the protests a “spontaneous expression of fundamental human rights”, according to the Voice Of America (VOA).
“Today the people of Iran are speaking to their government, and their message is undeniable: ‘Stop the support for terrorism. Stop giving billions of our money to killers and dictators. Stop taking our wealth and spending it on foreign fighters and proxy wars. Think of us,'” Haley said adding taht the Iranian government is “now on notice.”
Iran’s Forgiven Minister Javad Zarif welcomed the attitude of the UN members who supported the sovereignty of Iran via Twitter and said that the outcome of the emergency meeting was another “foreign policy blunder for the Trump administration”. Zarif also accused the US of abusing the protests to pressure Iran stand on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that’s known as the Iranian nuclear deal.
The UNSC rebuffed the US’ naked attempt to hijack its mandate. Majority emphasized the need to fully implement the JCPOA and to refrain from interfering in internal affairs of others. Another FP blunder for the Trump administration. Iran’s statement: https://t.co/QsbihBW69V
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 5, 2018
Anti-government protests erupted in Iran on December 28 for economic reasons. Now after two weeks, most of the protests have fade away, according to Iranian sources.
