Tehran Prosecutor: 70 Defendants from Protests Released in the Last 48 Hours

The Tehran Prosecutor General and Revolutionary Prosecutor announced that 70 individuals detained during recent protests have been released in the last 48 hours after investigations were completed and guarantees were obtained. He also claimed that the protests were supposed to last for forty days. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, on Saturday, January 6, discussed the recent protests in various cities of Iran during a meeting of the Tehran Prosecutor's Deputy Council, labeling it an 'American plot against the Islamic Republic.' According to the judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan, he asserted that this plot had 'two phases,' with the first phase starting on December 30 and intended to last until February 9, encompassing a total of forty days. Dolatabadi claimed that during this phase, 'according to the planned program, protests were supposed to continue every morning and afternoon, so that by engaging the police and exhausting them, the country's law enforcement and social power would be paralyzed, thus gradually bringing down the political system.' He referred to the second phase as 'from February 9 to March, resembling the 1979 revolution,' alleging that 'violent and armed protests were to be initiated and executed.' Over the past ten days, Iranian officials have cited various reasons for the protests, primarily attributing them to foreign interference from the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, Mossad, CIA, ISIS, the People's Mujahedin Organization, social media, especially Telegram, and even Saddam's brother-in-law. Meanwhile, 16 reformist political activists on Saturday deemed the claims of foreign interference by Iranian officials as 'an insult' to the people, emphasizing that 'focusing on foreign factors leads to neglecting the roots of protests and dissatisfaction and their resolution.' Last week's protests in Iran included harsh slogans against the Supreme Leader, other Iranian officials, and both reformist and conservative factions in the government, with protesters also chanting in praise of the Pahlavi era. Dolatabadi further mentioned the 'alternative planning' of protesters for three significant days, including December 30, February 1, and February 11, stating that 'the protests in Tehran began on December 30 with the notion that the epic of December 30 should turn into the December 30 of the rebels, and it was planned that on February 1, the anniversary of Imam Khomeini's return as the founder of the Islamic Republic, the unrest would expand so that on February 11, other events would occur for the Islamic system.' According to him, what caused the 'failure of the American plot' was 'the premature escalation of violence during the first phase of the plan,' which 'prevented the plan of paralyzing law enforcement and social forces from being realized, and the American plan was aborted like a premature fetus.' The Tehran Prosecutor General, without mentioning the number of detentions, only stated that 'in the last 48 hours, 70 defendants of the riots were released after investigations were completed and guarantees were obtained.' Security, judicial, and law enforcement officials of the Islamic Republic have reported various figures of detainees ranging from 1,000 to over 1,800, suggesting that the actual number of detainees is likely higher given the scale of the protests. Among the detainees are students who, according to some reports, did not participate in the protests, and the Ministry of Intelligence under Hassan Rouhani's government detained them at their homes or on the streets solely for 'prevention.' In recent days, families of the detainees have visited Evin Prison, seeking information about the status of their relatives. In his remarks on Saturday, the Tehran Prosecutor urged judges to prioritize 'swiftly resolving the cases of those accused of the so-called recent riots,' 'addressing important cases related to these riots, and paying attention to the judicial problems of the people,' adding that 'it is necessary to distinguish between the deceived individuals arrested in the streets and the main agents of these events.' In the recent protests, in addition to the detention of hundreds of protesters, at least 22 of them have also been killed.