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Demonstrators rally in support of Iranian antigovernment protests in Stockholm, Sweden, over the weekend.
Demonstrators rally in support of Iranian antigovernment protests in Stockholm, Sweden, over the weekend.
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Iran Live Blog: Foreign Minister Warns Foreigners Not To Foment Protests

Final Summary

-- A top Iranian judiciary official has said antigovernment protest leaders should be handed the harshest possible sentences, while President Hassan Rohani suggested demonstrations were driven by opposition to his ultraconservative rivals in the ruling elite.

-- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also weighed in on the matter, warning other countries not to foment insecurity in his country, echoing the official position of the Iranian government that the protests were fomented by the intelligence services of foreign states-- including the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

-- The United States has rejected Iran’s claims that Washington was behind the protests, which have led to the deaths of 22 people and the arrest of more than 1,700 others.

-- German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said the European Union will invite Zarif for talks about the widespread antigovernment protests that have roiled the country since December 2

-- Lawmaker Tayebeh Siavashi told the semiofficial ILNA news agency on January 8 that a 22-year-old man who was arrested by the police had died in prison. He said that he was informed by authorities that the detainee "committed suicide in jail."

-- Various Iranian officials have said that hundreds of detainees have been released, some after agreeing to sign a pledge not to "reoffend," the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

-- In other news, a senior Iranian education official says Iran intends to ban English-language classes from primary schools amid warnings from Islamic leaders that the language has led to a "cultural invasion" from the West.

Live blog by Golnaz Esfandiari with Farangis Najibullah and Frud Bezhan

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Tehran (GMT +3.5)

Iranian nationals rallying in the German city of Cologne in support of protesters in Iran.

Video footage purportedly showing people protesting in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, via the BBC.

Video footage purportedly showing people protesting in the city of Esfahan, in central Iran, on January 4.

A look at the slogans used by protesters in the past two days. Compiled by Farzan Sabet, managing editor at IranPolitik, a website on Iranian politics.

Macron told foreign diplomats in Paris today that change in Iran must come from the Iranian people, not from abroad, distancing himself from U.S. President Donald Trump's encouragement of protesters.

Macron added that "our role is to be on the lookout, demanding, scrupulous" to ensure that protesters' rights are not abused.

Amateur video appeared to show protests continuing in Iran on the evening of January 3, despite the government saying the uprising had ended after a week of unrest.

RFE/RL cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video clips.

Video Purports To Show More Iranian Protests Despite Government Claims
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Video Purports To Show More Iranian Protests Despite Government Claims

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0:00 0:01:33 0:00

'42,000' people took part in protests

Iran's interior minister is saying at most some 42,000 people took part in the week of protests, reports reformist daily Shargh.

Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in a statement today that the figure was "based on precise statistics we have."

Fazli said the protests have lasted for so long because of the "leniency, restrain, tolerance and interaction" of the government.

Iran situation 'to stabilize' by weekend

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said Iranian President Hassan Rohani assured him that the situation in Iran will "stabilize within a day or two, there's no need to be worried." Erdogan said Rohani told him the situation "would be back to normal by the weekend."

'Neither a revolution nor a political movement'

Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group:

"Manifold reasons lie behind Iran’s ongoing protests, but the immediate trigger appears to be widespread disgruntlement over the country’s economic performance, especially cuts in President Hassan Rohani’s new budget. Neither a revolution nor a political movement, the crisis is an explosion of the Iranian people’s pent-up frustrations over economic and political stagnation."

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