Heads of MKO-linked team arrested in northern Iran

The IRGC commander of Babolsar City Mostafa Bazvand made the announcement on Monday, saying that the team was operating in the city with the aim of deceiving young people. 

The arrested leaders had direct contact with foreign-backed groups [MKO] and they carried out many anti-security measures, according to the commander. 

Since the beginning of the riots in the country, the team sought to provide information for hostile media [a number of Persian language TV channels based in the U.S. and the UK] and deceive young people, he noted, adding that they have been detained by the city's security forces. 

Foreign-backed riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. She fainted at a police station in the capital Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later at the hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

Iran’s intelligence community has said several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have used their spy and propaganda apparatuses to provoke violent riots in the country.

Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property. Dozens of people and security personnel were killed in the riots.

MNA/IRN85097920