Iran Says Intelligence Services Dismantled Foreign-Backed Network That Was Plotting Riots

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On September 6, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and the Intelligence Department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that they had dismantled a foreign-backed network plotting to start riots in the country.

In a joint statement, intelligence services said that the dismantling of the network was a significant blow to an organized network fomenting unrest in Iran.

“Members of this network had received financial support from the United States’ Department of State and were directed through an Iranian opposition politician residing abroad,” the statement revealed.

The statement noted that the network had been actively recruiting women and planning their involvement in upcoming riots.

The network conducted “seminars for individuals both inside and outside the country, providing free virtual courses for activists in the fields of women’s rights and civil society,” according to the statement.

The statement also revealed that the most recent training workshop organized by the network took place in July last year, hosted by an Iranian opposition journalist at the University of SOAS in the United Kingdom.

The network planned an “online confidential meeting” on September 7 and 14 for a group of civil and women activists. These workshops and meetings were aimed “at making preparations and offering guidelines to rioters inside Iran to revive an environment of tension and riot,” the statement concluded.

Last year, a wave of protests and violence hit Iran following the death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini who was arrested for allegedly breaking Iran’s strict rules on wearing the hijab, the Islamic head covering for women. Tehran blamed foreign powers, including the United States, for fueling the unrest, which claimed the lives of at least 200 people.

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