Around 3,000 people were arrested during the recent protests in Iran, according to security officials cited by the country’s Tasnim news agency on Friday.
The 3,000 people detained included “armed individuals and rioters” and “members of fighter organisations”, according to Tasnim, which is considered close to security forces in Iran.
Rights groups have estimated up to 20,000 people have been arrested.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday for Moscow’s support at the United Nations in the wake of recent protests, his office said.
In a phone call with the Russian leader on the day after the protests were discussed at the UN Security Council, Pezeshkian thanked Putin for “Russia’s position”, adding that “the role and direct involvement of the United States and the Zionist regime in recent events in Iran is evident”, his office said, referring to Israel.
Iran’s current Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gholamhossein Darzi addresses a meeting of the UNSC on Iran at UN headquarters in New York City. — Reuters
At Thursday’s UN Security Council session in New York, Russia’s UN ambassador accused the United States of “stoking tensions and fuelling hysteria” in relation to the recent protests in Iran.
Putin on Friday held phone calls with the leaders of Israel and Iran, the Kremlin said, offering mediation amidst large-scale protests in Iran that have raised fears of a military confrontation in the region.
Independent monitors say Iranian security forces have killed thousands in a forceful response to nationwide anti-government protests — a crackdown that prompted threats of military action by the US.
On Friday, Russia announced Putin was in contact with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a bid to cool tensions between the two.
“The situation in the region is highly tense and the president continues his efforts to facilitate de-escalation”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Moscow is a close ally of Iran. It has also strived for good relations with Israel, though those ties became strained amidst Russian criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
In a call with Israel’s Netanyahu on Friday, the Kremlin said Russia had expressed its “readiness to continue its mediation efforts”.
It did not clarify what current efforts were being undertaken or comment on the protests in Iran.
Moscow had previously offered mediation during the June war.
Peskov said that Moscow would announce “the results of our telephone conversation with the Iranian President very soon”.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that he hoped Iran would soon be freed from what he described as the “yoke of tyranny”, amidst the protests. — AFP
