Protests and riots need to be clearly distinguished, and individuals who provoke clashes and violence will face severe punishment, the Secretary of Iran's Security Council, Ali Larijani said, Report informs.
According to Larijani, peaceful actions are popular protests caused by economic problems that have developed in the country: "As the Supreme Leader emphasized, these protests are completely understandable. Ensuring economic stability, especially in the currency sphere, is one of the fair demands of the people."
According to the Secretary of Iran's Security Council, a destructive movement has also emerged in parallel, which has nothing to do with the economic demands of the population: "This movement, abusing the protests, has resorted to extremely violent and criminal actions, including killing people and arson."
He also noted that many law enforcement officers were injured, and some, unfortunately, died: "There are also dead and wounded among peaceful citizens who participated neither in protests nor in clashes."