Iran’s chief prosecutor pledges ‘decisive’ response if protests destabilize country |
Iran’s prosecutor general said Wednesday that while economic protests that had gripped the country were legitimate, any attempt to create instability would be met with a “decisive response.”
“Peaceful livelihood protests are part of social and understandable realities,” Mohammad Movahedi-Azad told state media.
“Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response.”
The spontaneous protests, driven by dissatisfaction over Iran’s economic stagnation and galloping hyperinflation, began on Sunday in Tehran’s largest cellphone market, where shopkeepers shuttered their businesses.
They have since built momentum, with students at 10 universities in the capital and in other cities, including Iran’s most prestigious institutions, joining in on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the protests remain limited in number and concentrated in central Tehran, with shops elsewhere in the sprawling metropolis of 10 million people unaffected.
The streets of Tehran were calm early on Wednesday, a change from the usual chaotic and choking traffic, with the authorities having announced a bank holiday with just a day’s notice.
Schools, banks and public institutions were closed, with officials saying the directive was due to the cold weather and the need to save........