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Pezeshkian: Enemies seek to expand insecurity in Muslim countries
Erdogan says Iran’s security of ‘extraordinary importance’ to Turkey
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said enemies are working to spread terrorism and insecurity in the region by engineering internal crises in Muslim countries, pointing to “direct” US-Israeli role in Iran riots.
“The plan of the enemies of the Islamic Ummah is to expand and sustain war, terrorism, and insecurity in the region by creating internal crises in Islamic countries,” Pezeshkian told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a telephone conversation late Thursday.
Enemies, he maintained, “do not want Muslim nations to live in peace, security and stability.”
He said the recent riots in Iran had clear external dimensions and pointed to the “direct role” of the United States and the Israeli regime.
He said protests by some merchants and trade groups, sparked by economic problems caused by “unjust pressures and sanctions,” had initially been peaceful and were being managed toward resolution.
“However, groups of trained terrorists, with unprecedented actions such as setting fire to mosques and public and government centers, destroying rescue equipment, and killing civilians as well as security and law enforcement forces, sought to advance their destructive goals with the direct support of the United States and the Zionist regime,” Pezeshkian said.
Erdogan, for his part, offered condolences over the deaths of a large number of Iranian civilians and security personnel during the recent unrest.
He said peace, stability and security in Iran were of “extraordinary importance” to Turkey and stressed that Ankara had consistently voiced this position in all arenas and forums.
Pezeshkian thanked the Turkish government and people for their “firm, principled and brotherly” support for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said that Ankara opposes any military action against Iran, stressing that Iran should resolve its internal problems on its own. He was referring to the US president’s military threats against Iran over protests in the country.
Causes behind riots
In a message addressed to the Iranian people on Thursday, Pezeshkian said he has tasked several groups with “carefully examining the causes behind the recent events” in order to identify and eliminate “the roots of violence.”
He said the government and the establishment consider themselves responsible for all those harmed in the events and would work, “as far as possible,” to compensate damages with the help of the Iranian people.
The Iranian president said the recent unrest and insecurity was “a vengeful response by the enemies of the Iranian nation” following their defeat in the 12-day war in June.
He said hostile forces had turned “the legitimate and civil protests of the people” into “a bloody and violent arena,” resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 citizens and injuries to thousands more.
“The same evil hands that, in the 12-day war, shed the blood of more than a thousand women, men, youths, children, scientists and commanders of this land, today emerged from another sleeve,” he said.