"Today we can announce the end of the sedition," said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, IRGC commander.
He announced he had dispatched forces to Hamadan, Isfahan, and Lorestan provinces and said that a “large number” of protesters “who received training from counter-revolutionaries” had been arrested.
Most of the at least 21 deaths have occurred in these three provinces.
“We can feel an atmosphere of terror in the city,” a witness in Kermanshah told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network on Wednesday. Anti-riot forces and plainclothes officers are deployed throughout the main square to prevent any gathering, the witness said.
Meanwhile thousands joined officially sanctioned pro-government rallies, chanting “Leader, we are ready” and carrying pictures of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and signs reading “Death to seditionists.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Wednesday that he “hopes protests in Iran will end in a few days,” Hurriyet Daily News reported, citing Turkish presidential sources.
Iranian state-media reported Rouhani told Erdogan security forces faced protests in a "calm and organized" and the people of Iran showed their support for the government by joining the pro-government rallies on Wednesday.
Erdogan stressed the importance of maintaining peace and security in neighbouring Iran.
Pro-government supporters march on Wednesday during a funeral for Sajjad Shahsanai, member of the Revolutionary Guards killed during a protest in Najafabad this week. Photo: Morteza Salehi/Tasnim News/AFP
Iranian officials have continued to blame “enemies” of the Islamic Republic like the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia of hijacking the protests in order to destabilize the country.
The protests, however, appear to be spontaneous expressions of frustration with the ruling classes by protesters who are overwhelmingly young.
“The protesters don’t have a leader, it’s a leaderless movement, and I call it the movement of the hungry, the starved people,” Mohammad, a protester in Karaj told The Guardian. He explained that people are fed up with unemployment and poverty.
The United States has kept up its support for the protesters.
“Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!” President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
His government is considering sanctions, a senior official told Reuters anonymously.
Trump’s administration wants to collect “actionable information” to “feed that into our sanctions designation machinery,” the official stated.
On Tuesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said she would be asking for the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss the situation in Iran.
Iran is not currently on the council’s agenda, Security Council President Kairat Umarov, Kazakhstan ambassador to the UN, said. But they are “ready to work on this” if a member raises it.
He said they are following events in Iran but was adopting a “wait and see” position.
Secretary General of the UN Antonio Guterres is also following the protests.
“We regret the reported loss of life, and we hope that further violence will be avoided,” his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday.
“We expect that the rights to peaceful assembly and expression of the Iranian people will be respected,” he added.
Contrary to the United States’ vocal condemnation of government in Tehran, European nations have adopted a more muted tone, in light of their desire to see the nuclear deal with Iran survive.
UK Secretary of State Boris Johnson has called on “all concerned to refrain from violence.”
Berlin has called for Tehran to resolve matters raised by the protesters “though dialogue.”
France’s Emmanuel Macron urged Rouhani to act with “restraint” and a planned visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to Tehran has been postponed.
Kurdish parties in Iran, backing the protests, have called for the international community to adopt stronger positions condemning violence against the demonstrators.
Abdullah Mohtadi, secretary general of the Komala Party, tweeted on Tuesday that economic sanctions would be welcome.
Full & open political and moral support by US, Europe & the world, warning the Iranian authorities that using violence against demonstrators will be punished by harsh economic sanctions, give the Iranian people a voice by providing free internet, summoning ambassadors, et.
— Abdullah Mohtadi (@AbdullahMohtadi) January 2, 2018
