TEHRAN(National times)- Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged to address mounting economic grievances in the country, saying his government is \u201cready to listen\u201d to protesters while urging them to prevent \u201crioters\u201d and \u201cterrorist elements\u201d from wreaking havoc. Pezeshkian spoke about the unrest in an interview on state television on Sunday as the demonstrations, which began when merchants at Tehran\u2019s Grand Bazaar closed their shops over the Iranian rial\u2019s sharp depreciation, entered a third week. The Iranian president told the IRIB broadcaster that Israel and the United were masterminding the destabilisation in the country, saying \u201cthe same people that struck this country\u201d during Israel\u2019s 12-day war in June were \u201ctrying to escalate these unrests with regard to the economic discussion\u201d. \u201cThey have trained some people inside and outside the country, they have bought in some terrorists from outside,\u201d Pezeshkian said, claiming the perpetrators had attacked a bazaar in the city of Rasht and setting \u201cmosques on fire\u201d. The Iranian president said the government had heard the concerns shopkeepers\u2019 concerns and is going to solve their problems \u201cby any means necessary\u201d. But he urged the public not to allow \u201crioters\u201d to disrupt the country, insisting: \u201cRioters are not protesting people. We hear the protesters and have made every effort to solve their problems.\u201d The protests, which have evolved from economic grievances into broader anti-government demonstrations, are the largest in Iran since the 2022-2023 movement spurred by the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DEATH TOLL RISES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n State media reported that 109 security personnel have been killed during the latest unrest. Authorities have not confirmed the number of demonstrators who have lost their lives, but opposition activists based outside the country say the death toll is higher and includes hundreds of protesters. Footage, verified by Al Jazeera, from a morgue in Kahrizak, south of Tehran, showed dozens of bodies in black bags outside the facility, with apparent relatives searching for loved ones. State television broadcast similar scenes from Tehran\u2019s coroner\u2019s office, attributing deaths to \u201carmed terrorists\u201d. Authorities on Sunday also declared three days of national mourning \u201cin honour of martyrs killed in resistance against the United States and the Zionist regime\u201d, according to state media. Iran\u2019s Ministry of Interior claimed the unrest is subsiding as the attorney general warned participants they could face capital punishment. A nationwide internet blackout has persisted for more than 72 hours, according to monitoring groups. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday he was \u201cshocked\u201d by reports of violence against protesters in Iran and called on the government to show restraint. \u201cThe rights to freedom of expression, association & peaceful assembly must be fully respected & protected,\u201d he said on X. Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Iranian officials had spent the past week trying to draw a distinction between protesters and what they described as foreign-trained rioters. Asadi added that senior officials had acknowledged public anger as justified, citing \u201csoaring prices, high inflation and the drastic devaluation of the local currency that right now puts a huge amount of pressure on the pockets of local people\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n US TENSIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The unrest in Iran is unfolding as US President Donald Trump pursues an assertive foreign policy, having abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and discussing acquiring Greenland by purchase or force. Trump, who has pledged to \u201chit Iran where it hurts\u201d if protesters are killed, was scheduled to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a \u2060US official told the Reuters news agency. The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf issued a stark warning. \u201cIn the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,\u201d Ghalibaf told lawmakers, some of whom reportedly chanted anti-American slogans. Iranian authorities also called for nationwide rallies on Monday to condemn \u201cterrorist actions led by the United States and Israel\u201d, according to state media. Pezeshkian urged participation in what state television characterised as a \u201cnational resistance march\u201d against violence attributed to \u201curban terrorist criminals\u201d. Some US lawmakers meanwhile questioned the wisdom of taking military action against Iran. Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic Senator Mark Warner warned that rather than undermining the regime, a military attack on Iran could rally the people against an outside enemy. Demonstrations supporting Iranian protestets took place in London, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul. Iran also summoned Britain\u2019s ambassador on Sunday to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran over \u201cinterventionist comments\u201d attributed to the British foreign minister and a protester removing the Iranian flag from the London Embassy building and replacing it with a style of flag that was used prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TEHRAN(National times)- Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged to address mounting economic grievances in the country, saying his government is \u201cready to listen\u201d to protesters while urging them to prevent \u201crioters\u201d and \u201cterrorist elements\u201d from wreaking havoc. Pezeshkian spoke about the unrest in an interview on state television on Sunday as the demonstrations, which began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n