Speaking during a ceremony in Tehran on Saturday, Chief of General Staff of Iranian Armed Force, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri described the recent incidents which followed the government's decision to increase the price of gasoline in the country as a plot against the country's security.
General Bagheri said that the enemies must have thought they could have taken advantage of the people's protest over the gasoline price hikes to harm the country after they had realized direct military confrontation would be costly.
"During the first 24 hours, what people were doing was a normal protest, but some had come to the streets to interrupt, damage, and destroy the security of the country," he noted, adding that "had it not been for the brave and sacrificial action of Leader of the Islamic Revolution in putting his support behind the decision of the heads of the three branches of the government and other actions taken in order to bring peace back to the country, the continuation of the trend could have been problematic for the country."
"It is not natural for a peaceful protest against a decision to quickly be transformed into extremely violent behavior, destruction, murder and harm to people and places that undermine national security," the top Iranian military official further noted.
General Bagheri also added restricting access to the Internet proved to be effective in handling the situation as it prevented the rioters from taking control of the protests and misreporting on the incidents.
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