FM slams rioters, terrorists who tried to hijack peaceful demos

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian denounces the rioters and terrorists, who tried to hijack recent peaceful demonstrations across Iran, in order to sow unrest throughout the country.

The top diplomat made the remarks during separate phone calls with his Finnish and Irish counterparts, Pekka Haavisto and Simon Coveney, on Thursday.

Riots erupted in several Iranian cities after a young woman died in the Iranian police's custody. A thorough investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the woman, identified as Mahsa Amini's death.

Speaking with the Finnish official, Amir-Abdollahian differentiated between the rioters and peaceful demonstrators.

In line with its constitution, he said, Iran considers people's "peaceful" pursuance of their demands to be their "legal right" and has "always been attentive and responsive towards it."

He, however, noted how the rioters had tried to misuse recent demonstrations to destroy public properties, and attack the Iranian people and police with firearms and cold weapons "under the influence" of some foreign states and amid instigation by foreign television channels.

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Such malpractice is unacceptable no matter where it takes place across the world, Amir-Abdollahian asserted.

The Finnish minister, for his part, expressed hope that the Islamic Republic would publish an unbiased and impartial report on Amini's death.

Addressing his Irish counterpart, Amir-Abdollahian vowed that "a scientific, technical, and thoroughgoing forensic report" would soon be published concerning the cause of Amini's death.

The top Iranian diplomat also said Tehran accords great "primacy" to women's rights. He noted how the Iranian women play "a very influential role" across the country's various academic, scientific, medical, educational, administrative, and technological sectors.

Amir-Abdollahian lauded the Iranian police for meeting the people's demand of confronting the rioters. "Not a single person has been arrested during peaceful demonstrations," he said, adding that the law enforcement force, though, staged a rigorous and strong performance in the face of those, who had been seeking to sow unrest across the country

The Islamic Republic will, nevertheless, "consign to justice" all those, who have used weapons or acted as "organized members of terrorist groups." "Beyond all doubt, the Islamic Republic would continue to decisively confront acts of instigation and [other] measures that are staged by terrorist groups."

Responding to the Iranian foreign minister, the Irish official considered the Islamic Republic's attention towards the people's peaceful demands to be important, and acknowledged Amir-Abdollahian's emphasis on the issue.

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