Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the country’s people had defeated an “enemy conspiracy” behind a wave of violent street protests and were celebrating their victory.
He blamed the days of unrest on “armed anarchists”, who took to the streets “based on a plot that the region’s reactionary, the Zionists and Americans had hatched,” referring to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the U.S.
The demonstrations erupted in the sanctions-hit Islamic republic on Friday after an announcement the price of petrol would be raised by as much as 200% with immediate effect.
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Motorists blocked major roads in Tehran before the unrest spread rapidly to at least 40 urban centres, with petrol pumps torched, police stations attacked and shops looted.
Officials have confirmed five deaths, including of three security personnel stabbed by “rioters”.
Thousands of mourners chanted “Death to America” at the funeral procession on Wednesday for one of those killed, a Revolutionary Guard commander in Shahriar, west of Tehran.
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The UN has voiced alarm at reports of dozens of deaths, and Amnesty International said more than 100 demonstrators were believed to have been killed.
The full extent of the bloodshed was difficult to ascertain given a near-total internet blackout now in its fourth day.
Mr. Rouhani told the Cabinet that “our people have been victorious against... the enemy’s conspiracy. Those anarchists who came out to the streets were few in number,” he said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said earlier also that “the recent actions were security issues, not from the people. “We have repelled the enemy.”
Days ago Mr. Khamenei had blamed foreign opponents of Iran’s establishment for the unrest — among them the Pahlavi royal family ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran group, which Iran considers a “terrorist” cult.
At the funeral in Shahriar, mourners marched behind a truck carrying his coffin, clutching portraits of the slain Guard as well as posters that read “Down With USA”.
State television, which rarely shows any signs of dissent in Iran, again aired footage on Tuesday night of the unrest in cities including Tehran and Shiraz.
The UN human rights office Tuesday said it was alarmed by reports live ammunition had been used against protesters and caused a “significant number of deaths”.