Turkey expresses concerns over Iran anti-govt protests

Turkey is concerned over reports of violent protests in neighbouring Iran while advising foreign powers not to intervene.

Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “we wish that peace in the country is maintained as soon as possible and common sense prevails to prevent the escalation of the events.”

The ministry called for avoiding discourse that could provoke the developments and foreign interventions.

“Turkey attaches great importance to maintaining social peace and stability in friendly and brotherly Iran,’’ the ministry reported.

State TV had reported that 10 people were killed in protests on Sunday.

On Monday, that death toll rose when the deputy governor of the western Hamadan Province, Saeed Shahrokhi, told ISNA news agency that another three protesters were killed on Sunday in the city of Tuyserkan.

Hundreds have been arrested, according to officials and social media.

Online video showed police in the capital Tehran firing water cannon to disperse demonstrators, in footage said to have been filmed on Sunday.

Protests against economic hardships and alleged corruption erupted in Iran’s second city of Mashhad on Thursday and escalated across the country into calls for the religious establishment to step down.

Some of the anger was directed at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, breaking a taboo surrounding the man who has been supreme leader of Iran since 1989.

Video posted on social media showed crowds of people walking through the streets, some chanting “Death to the dictator!”

A senior Iranian security official on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Britain of being “major players” behind recent anti-government protests.

“Certain countries are waging a proxy war against the Islamic republic via social media and the internet,’’ Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said.

He said that the U.S, Britain and Saudi Arabia are behind the recent riots in Iran, adding that the hash tags and social media campaigns in Iran are all being guided by these countries.

“Based on our analyses, around 27 per cent of the new hash tags against Iran are generated by the Saudi government,” the Iranian official said.

Shamkhani also said this foreign-backed intervention is aimed at hampering Iran’s progress in different spheres.

“What is happening in Iran will be over in a few days, and there is no reason to worry at all,’’ he noted.