Iran Protests: Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, who represents Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he hopes conditions in Iran and across the Middle East will improve. He blamed international sanctions for Iran’s economic difficulties and said outside forces are making the crisis worse.
Speaking to ANI news agency, Ilahi said, “Actually we hope that the situation will be good. We are looking for peace, we are looking for the security, but some other people doesn’t want that one because this crisis and the problem which created by some people it burns the region and the Middle East and all countries will be affected by this crisis and the problem. We hope that everything will calm down and will be calm and peace and security will cover everything.”
Iran Protests and International Tensions
Iran has faced large-scale protests since late December last year. These protests have also increased tensions with the United States, which has warned about possible intervention. Activists claim that thousands have died in a harsh crackdown by Iranian authorities.
Iran Protests: Sanctions Blamed for Economic Crisis
Ilahi said Iran’s economic struggles are mainly caused by foreign sanctions. He insisted that the government is trying to respond to people’s concerns.
He said, “Actually the government should listen to the demand of the people and they are going to solve the problem. Even the President announced that we are listening to the people and we will try as much as possible to solve their problems and they try to do that one but something is not in their hand because the majority of this problem comes from abroad from the other people from the unlawful sanctions against Iran.”
He admitted that many people are unhappy about economic conditions but said some groups are using the unrest for their own benefit. According to him, Iran has economic problems and some citizens are angry, “but other people use this opportunity to reach their target and achieve their aims.”
Iran Protests: Reality vs “Imagination”
Ilahi claimed that reports about Iran are often exaggerated and do not show the real situation. He said there is a difference between facts and what he called “imagination.”
He explained, “Concerning the situation in Iran, actually we have two things which we have to divide and differentiate between them. The first one is the fact and the reality of the situation. The second one is imagination, which is created by the journalist’s narration, by the enemies, or by other people. There is a very deep gap between these two realities.”
He added, “The first one is fact, reality, and the second one is imagination…Yes, we have economic problems; some are angry with the situation of the economy, which was created by some countries against Iran, based on the sanctions. But other people use this opportunity to reach their target and achieve their aims. Now, at the moment, the situation is very good, is under control and is not as much as mentioned on social media.”
On Killings During Protests in Iran
When asked about deaths during the protests, Ilahi admitted that people were killed but rejected the reported numbers.
He said, “At first, these protesters attacked civilians, policemen, and businessmen and killed them as they wanted to benefit from this situation, and they mentioned that these people were killed by policemen, which is not true…Yes, the number of killings was mentioned by some organisations which are based in the UK, the US, and in European countries or other countries. But these numbers are incorrect and fake. They want to increase the number of killings to mention that the government killed them.”
He also claimed that outside forces were encouraging violence and compared some incidents to past extremist attacks.
“Other people use this opportunity to come out and to do some demonstration against the people and exactly what’s happened here is the same lot….like what happened by ISIS in some years ago because they beheaded some innocent people, they burned some innocent people and they attacked some mosques and they burned some library. Even they attacked some policemen… because some enemies tried to bring problem in the society of Iran.”
Claims of False Death Figures
Ilahi argued that many death toll reports were made up.
He said, “Recently it was an interview with a senator in America. I said these organisations are made by US, based whether in the UK or in the US….mentioned a lot of numbers which are fake….these numbers are not correct.”
He further added, “We have a lot of evidence. The majority of them are innocent people who were working in their shops, in the clinic or in the hospital or wrere in the mosque. They were killed by these protesters. But some protesters were also killed after attacking policemen and after attacking the civilians, and the police wanted to stop them.”
