• Judiciary orders no leniency against ‘rioters’ amid unrest
• Trump vows Tehran will ‘get hit very hard’ if it kills more citizens
• 12 dead as protests expand to 45 cities; intelligence officers seize weapons cache
PARIS: Iran refused on Monday to offer “rioters” leniency while defending citizens’ right to demonstrate, a defiant stance taken after US President Donald Trump warned Tehran would “get hit very hard” if authorities killed more demonstrators amid deadly unrest.
Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei ordered officials to take a hard line against those causing instability as protests, which erupted over economic stagnation, expanded to include political demands.
“I instruct the attorney general and prosecutors across the country to act in accordance with the law and with resolve against the rioters and those who support them… and to show no leniency or indulgence,” Mohseni Ejei said, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
He added that Iran “listens to the protesters and their criticism, and distinguishes between them and rioters”.
Demonstrations have taken place in 23 of Iran’s 31 provinces, affecting at least 45 different cities to varying degrees.
The unrest has been concentrated in the west and consists mostly of small or medium-sized gatherings, according to an AFP tally based on official statements and media reports.
At least 12 people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in localised clashes since Dec 30, officials announced.
Since the protests began on Dec 28 — sparked when shopkeepers in the capital of Tehran staged a strike over high prices — officials have struck a conciliatory tone regarding economic demands while vowing to crush destabilisation.
Trump threats
Trump on Sunday told reporters aboard Air Force One that the US was watching the situation “very closely”.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump said.
Iran’s economy has been hit hard by tough international sanctions.
The national currency, the rial, has lost more than a third of its value against the US dollar over the past year, and inflation is in the double digits.
To alleviate economic pressure, the government announced Sunday a monthly allowance for every citizen equivalent to roughly 3.5 per cent of the average monthly wage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country stood “in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people and with their aspirations for freedom.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei, speaking at a press conference, accused Israel of trying “to exploit the slightest opportunity to sow division and undermine our national unity.”
Israel fought a 12-day war with Iran in June, which the US briefly joined with limited strikes on Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
Explosives seized
Police intelligence officers in Tehran have identified a suspected hideout used by “rioters,” seizing “weapons, ammunition, and materials for making improvised explosive devices,” according to Mizan.
The Fars news agency reported on Monday that “the trend observed on Sunday night shows a notable decrease in the number of gatherings and their geographic reach compared to previous nights.”
While videos flooding social media are often impossible to verify, local media’s accounting is not exhaustive, and state-run outlets have downplayed coverage of the demonstrations.
Most shops in Tehran were open Monday and residents went about their business. However, riot police were deployed at major intersections and officers were stationed outside some schools. Several universities have resumed classes, though only online.
The reformist newspaper Arman Melli said Monday that authorities had “heard the voices of the protesters”, while the conservative papers Javan and Kayhan accused the United States and Israel of financially supporting rioters.
Protests have also taken place among the Iranian diaspora.
“With each new protest, Iranian men and women gain ground,” Sahar Aghakhani, a 29-year-old French-Iranian translator, said at a demonstration in Paris on Sunday. “Movement by movement, we’re getting closer to the end of the regime.” Iran has experienced several outbreaks of nationwide protests in recent years, most notably in 2022 over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress laws for women. The current protests have not yet reached the same scale.
