Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned of a civil war in his country.
According to the Iranian news agency Isna, he accused Israel and Western states of organizing the protests in Iran with the intention that the country would fall apart and slide into civil war.
The Fars news agency also wrote on Thursday that after "separatists" failed to achieve anything with the riots and strikes, they are now provoking the armed forces and police to unleash a civil war and armed uprising.
This was shown by the incidents in several cities, for example in Izeh.
Rainer Herman
Editor in Politics.
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In the small town of Izeh, unidentified gunmen shot into the crowd from a motorcycle.
Seven people were killed in the process.
State news agencies blamed "terrorists" for the crime.
Social media said the massacre was staged by the security forces to further the spiral of violence.
"mastermind of the riots"
Revolutionary Guard commander General Hossein Salami on Thursday described the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Israel and Saudi Arabia as "masterminds of the riots" and "satans."
So far, only the USA and Israel have been considered “satans”.
Salami said: "The enemies want our streets to be lined with casinos and wine bars.
They want to take away the hijab from our women, but it is our trench.”
The largest rallies in weeks took place on Wednesday and Thursday, the anniversaries of the bloody crackdown on the 2019 protests.
Analysts report protests in all 31 provinces and 400 cities and towns.
At least 362 people have been killed and more than 16,000 arrested since September 16.
According to Amnesty International, 21 demonstrators face the death penalty.
Recently, 19-year-old Yalda Aghafazli from Tehran took her own life five days after being released from detention for the abuses she was subjected to.
The BBC also quoted MI5 chief Ken McCallum as saying Iran had attempted or planned to kidnap or kill at least 10 British or other nationals in Britain since January alone.