Tehran, Jan 18 — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Sunday said it had arrested ringleaders and what it described as “terrorist elements” involved in recent unrest in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, seizing a cache of lethal weapons during the operations.
In a statement, the deputy public relations office of the IRGC’s Khuzestan unit said the detainees are accused of “killing the innocent, damaging public and private property, disrupting public order, and terrorizing people,” along with the destruction of religious sites, including “shrines and mosques.”
The statement alleged that the group was “tasked by foreign agencies” to carry out sabotage and arson, commit assassinations, and foment ethnic divisions. It added that those arrested were also assigned to dismantle critical infrastructure, including “water and electricity, gas, telephone, oil pipelines,” and to attack “military facilities and police stations.”
The IRGC unit thanked residents for cooperating with security forces in the arrests, saying the public support helped apprehend “armed mercenaries.” It said its forces remain prepared to “sacrifice their lives” to thwart what it called hostile plots and to maintain security.
The arrests come after last month’s peaceful protests by shopkeepers in several Iranian cities over economic grievances linked to US sanctions. Iranian authorities say the demonstrations later turned violent following public statements by US and Israeli officials that encouraged disorder.
During the unrest, the IRGC said, foreign-backed rioters damaged public property and caused casualties among civilians and security personnel.
Separately, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that some of those behind the unrest were “identified, trained, and largely recruited by American and Israeli agencies.”
Read more | ‘Mercenaries for foreigners’: Khamenei on Iran unrest