Rallies Held Across Iran to Support Establishment

Martyrs of Seditious Riots Laid to Rest

Date: 20 November 2019 - 21:43

News ID: ۷۲۹۶۰

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iranians on Wednesday laid to rest a serviceman and a civilian martyred recently at the hands of rioters as demonstrations expanded nationwide in condemnation of the agitators working to sow unrest in the country under the pretext of protest against fuel price hikes.
The burial procession and a subsequent interment ceremony took place in Malard county outside Tehran. The attendees bade farewell to martyrs Morteza Ebrahimi, one of the commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC)’s Imam Hussein Battalion, and Mostafa Rezaei, an employee with Malard Municipality.
Elsewhere in the country, people rallied in the northern city of Gorgan to voice outrage against anarchists, Tasnim news agency reported.
They shouted slogans against the United States and the occupying regime of Israel, and expressed resentment at those defying the country’s Islamic establishment.
The demonstrators also asserted their allegiance to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the entire establishment.
People also marched across Khorramabad and the northwestern cities of Tabriz Ardabil and Zanjan to show their support for the Islamic establishment and send a message to rioters.
In Karaj west of Tehran, a similar rally was held with the participation of a big number of residents.
The Islamic Propagation Coordination Council in the northeastern province of Semnan rallies will be held to denounce violence and unrest in the provincial capital Semnan and the main city of Shahroud Thursday and Saturday.
The pro-government rallies were held days after Ayatollah Khamenei voiced support for the decision to raise the prices, and warned that the peaceful protests could be tainted by violence orchestrated by certain elements.
The government raised gasoline prices last week in order to moderate the national consumption rate, which stands at 110 million liters, 40 million liters above the maximum domestic requirement.
The move prompted some peaceful protests, but riotous elements, abusing the situation, quickly entered the scene, destroying public property, setting ablaze banks and gas stations among other facilities, and opening fire on people and security forces.
Among the rioters were anarchists with links to the notorious U.S.-backed Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group, according to reports.
There have been reports of fatalities among both security forces and civilians in different locations, with an official tally available yet.
According to Fars news agency, the violence saw rioters setting fire to as many as 80 department stores across the country, incurring a damage of 1.7 trillion  rials (more than $40 million).
The damage has wrecked between 50 to 100 percent of the facilities’ structures, with the anarchists either looting the stores before setting them ablaze or setting fire to entire facilities and their supplies.
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced outright support for acts of violence, reiterating Washington’s claim that "the United States is with you”.
Various Iranian officials have condemned the remarks as reprehensible and duplicitous.