Iranian authorities said they intend to punish those responsible for "terrorist incidents" in the country, while also offering leniency to people who were “deceived” by foreign powers into protesting.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said "murderers and terrorist separatists would face severe punishment" for nationwide protests that swelled into a broader revolt against Iran’s clerical leadership that has run the country since the 1979 revolution. However, those who were "deceived" by foreign powers into demonstrating would be shown "Islamic compassion" and leniency, they said.
The heads of state also pledged to tackle economic hardship, which sparked the protests that they say were later “hijacked by foreign-backed rioters” as part of a failed US-Israeli campaign against Tehran. They said they would “spare no effort” in addressing economic grievances and maintaining public security.
Authorities have adopted a dual approach to the mass rallies that broke out on December 28, acknowledging protesters’ economic demands as legitimate, while clamping down heavily on the unrest, and accusing Israel and the US of "hijacking" the demonstrations to incite violence.
Mr Pezeshkian described the protests as a “continuation of the failed and unsuccessful” Israeli incursions during the 12-day war last June, in which the US also struck key nuclear sites in Iran.
Mr Qalibaf accused Israel and the US of orchestrating violence and armed attacks during the demonstrations in Iran, and killing "several thousand civilians" and security forces.
Iranian authorities have not released an official death toll from the protests, although supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials have acknowledged “several thousand deaths".
At least 4,029 people have been killed in the Iranian government's clamp down on protests, the US-based Hrana rights group estimates, while an additional 9,049 deaths remain under investigation. A total of 26,015 people linked to the demonstrations have been arrested since December 28, Hrana said in its latest statement.
An internet shutdown imposed by authorities since January 8 has made it difficult to obtain and verify information from inside Iran, despite reports of brief and intermittent connectivity. Hossein Afshin, the Iranian President’s deputy for scientific affairs, said internet restrictions would be lifted “gradually” from the end of this week.
The demonstrations that spread across all 31 of Iran’s provinces appear to have been largely quelled, with Tehran saying it is “just getting started” on punishing the “rioters” arrested.
“Our main work at the judiciary about the recent events has just begun,” Mr Mohseni-Ejei wrote on X. In a separate post, he said everyone deemed responsible, from US President Donald Trump to “Zionist ringleaders” and their supporters, would be tried and punished.
Tehran and Washington have repeatedly exchanged threats since the protests started, with Mr Trump publicly backing the demonstrations and vowing to “send help”. Tension escalated last week as a US strike on Iran appeared imminent, sources told The National, but Mr Trump instead adopted a wait-and-see approach after being informed that the killing of protesters was declining and a “large number of scheduled executions” had been cancelled.
Iran's judiciary on Sunday indicated that executions may go ahead. "A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments," Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said. Mohareb, meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.
