Military chief says attacks targeted civilians, security forces; no response from Washington or Tel Aviv
TEHRAN — Iran’s top military commander accused the United States and Israel on Tuesday of deploying members of the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group inside the country to carry out attacks against civilians and security personnel.
Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, said the move came in the wake of what he described as Washington and Tel Aviv’s failure in a recent “12-day war” against Iran, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
Mousavi said the ISIS members, whom he described as “mercenaries,” were sent into the country to carry out violent attacks that targeted both the Iranian public and security forces.
“Iran will not tolerate any violation of its sovereignty or territorial integrity,” he said, adding that security forces have acted with restraint in handling protests but would not allow “terrorist elements” to operate in the streets.
Neither the US nor Israel issued an immediate response to the accusations.
Iran has been rocked by anti-government protests since last month amid worsening economic conditions and a record depreciation of the national currency, the rial, which has fallen to 145,000 against the US dollar, driving up prices of essential goods.
Iranian officials have accused the US and Israel of backing what they describe as “armed rioters” in the country.
There are no official casualty figures, but the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-based rights group, estimates that the death toll has reached at least 646, including both security forces and protesters, with over 1,000 injured.
HRANA also reported that at least 10,721 people have been detained across protests in 585 locations nationwide, including 186 cities in all 31 provinces. — Anadolu Agency
