Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stressed that Iran “will respond with full force” following recent violence and riots in the country.
In an article published in the Wall Street Journal, Araghchi refuted what he described as a wave of false news disseminated by Western media regarding the events, urging the US administration to distance itself from such reporting.
Araghchi asserted that certain media had distorted reality and contributed to creating an atmosphere threatening unprecedented violence. “If I had the choice, I would say that violence was the primary objective of this blatant disinformation campaign,” he stated.
He explained that while protests began peacefully and were acknowledged by the government, they turned violent when foreign and domestic terrorist elements intervened, making it imperative to sever communication between “the organizers of the riots and the terrorists.”
Araghchi added that masked groups dressed in black used rifles and pistols to infiltrate protests and kill innocent demonstrators, even as various media inaccurately reported the “fall of major Iranian cities.” Other reports claimed widespread armed violence, but he asserted the most violent phase of the unrest lasted no more than 72 hours.
Regarding the police response, Araghchi said Iranian police are primarily trained to manage unrest without firearms, revealing that almost all officers on the ground were unarmed.
In contrast, he asserted that just hours after US President Donald Trump announced he was considering “intervening in the event of mass violence,” Iranian security forces faced coordinated and widespread armed attacks.
“Both police officers and civilians were targeted. Police officers were shot, burned, and some were even beheaded,” Araghchi added.
This was accompanied by the deliberate destruction of public buses, hospitals, ambulances, fire stations, healthcare infrastructure, supermarkets, and mosques—acts he said aimed to increase casualties and hinder emergency response.
Araghchi noted that most of the dead were police officers and ordinary civilians. He recalled stating in a previous Fox News interview that “the death toll is in the hundreds,” with a final count to be announced once official figures are verified.
Following the disturbances and the dismantling of militant cells by intelligence agencies, Araghchi emphasized that internet and communications are being gradually restored across Iran.
Source: The Wall Street Journal translated by Al-manar