Iran's Interior Minister Denies 'Organization' and 'Foreign Origin' of December Protests

Despite statements from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and some judicial officials attributing the nationwide protests in December to opposition groups abroad, the Iranian Interior Minister acknowledged that investigations do not indicate these protests were 'organized' or had a foreign origin. In an interview with the Iran newspaper on Saturday, March 20, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli emphasized that 'we did not reach any conclusion in our investigations that a group, faction, or the opposition organized the protests from outside.' He added that 'this does not mean that the opposition did not exploit the protests, as they made every effort in intensifying, directing, and benefiting from them.' Following the recent nationwide protests in dozens of cities in Iran, judicial officials, including the Attorney General and the Tehran Prosecutor, expressed opinions that these protests had a source and were orchestrated by the CIA and involved the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and associates of Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, described the December protests as 'fireworks,' 'mischief,' and 'the enemy's counterattack' and accused the U.S., U.K., and Israel of organizing these protests. He also claimed that a 'wealthy' regional government funded these gatherings. These statements contradict the findings mentioned by the Iranian Interior Minister regarding the lack of foreign origin for the protests. The December protests began with gatherings against rising prices in Mashhad and several other cities in Khorasan province but quickly spread to other cities, with the protesters' slogans shifting to those against the leader, president, and officials of the republic, as well as both major factions involved in power in Iran, demanding a change of government. In some cities, particularly Qom and Mashhad, slogans were raised in support of the Pahlavi dynasty and against the Islamic Revolution of 1979, while another major slogan warned both major factions of the Iranian government that 'reformist or principlist, the story is over.' Meanwhile, some officials from Hassan Rouhani's government and some groups supporting Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, accused him and his associates of organizing the gathering in Mashhad on December 7. The Unity Party, a reformist party, mentioned the roles of Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi, and Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda in organizing these gatherings in Mashhad, an accusation that has been denied by Alamolhoda. On Sunday, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli referred to reports about calls from conservative Telegram channels for the Mashhad gathering, stating that 'it was not the case that a group came in an organized manner. There were channels attributed to a political faction that republished content and images, but when we spoke with that political faction, they said it was not our doing; if we wanted to call for it, we would have done so through the 50 channels at our disposal, not just one channel.' Previously, Hossein Zolfaqari, the Deputy Minister of Interior for Security, had also acknowledged that the December protests 'crossed all political factions in the country.' 'The level of accumulated grievances had risen and become public,' he stated. While the Supreme Leader and his close associates attributed the December protests to economic issues, Hassan Rouhani provided a different assessment, stating that the protesters also had political and social demands and that the people had not achieved all their demands. Now, the Interior Minister of Rouhani's government emphasized in an interview with Iran newspaper that the 'main factor' of the December protests was not solely economic, as there were also grievances in political, security, and cultural domains. He also claimed that 60% of those arrested during these protests were employed. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli further stated that contrary to what has been said, depositors of financial and credit institutions had 'very little presence in these protests.' He clarified that the 'ground' for the December protests still exists and mentioned generational change as one of the grounds for these protests. Rahmani Fazli remarked that the rapid spread of protests to various cities in Iran was due to the rising level of 'accumulated grievances' and their 'publicization,' such that protests were expressed 'wherever there was an opportunity to emerge.' The Interior Minister of Rouhani's government stated that to 'limit' these gatherings, discussions were held with various groups, including political, student, labor, media factions, and those who could be involved 'to prevent this issue from escalating.' However, he did not specify which institutions of the Islamic Republic had negotiated with these groups and in what framework. Following the December protests, the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran arrested over 100 student activists and several labor activists. According to further reports, the arrested students were from the University of Tehran, and as reported by Fereydoun Mousavi and Mahmoud Sadeghi, representatives from Tehran in Parliament, most of the arrests were described by them as 'preventive.' Meanwhile, legal experts such as Shirin Ebadi and Nasrin Sotoudeh have stated that there is no law in Iran for preemptive arrests and for the purpose of prevention.