TEHRAN - A senior Iranian legislator, Seyyed Mahmoud Nabaviyan, has discussed the role of Western countries and their allied media outlets in the recent unrest in Iran, concluding that the Islamic Republic will continue to prosper despite all these pressures and this has made them angry.

Protests erupted in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, fainted in police custody on September 13 and died three days later in hospital. She had been arrested by morality police to receive training on Islamic dress code. However, protests turned violent as some hooligans attacked security forces and committed acts of sabotage.

Nabaviyan said some rioters had entered the streets with plans. “They had leaders. Some were even thugs who martyred and injured several people, and these people must be brought to justice,” Nabaviyan told the Mehr news agency in an interview published on Monday.

Forensic medicine determined that Masha Amini died because of a chronic disease and rumors that she suffered a blow to her head or other vital body organs were untrue.

Nabaviyan says the recent riots showed that the enemies’ main aim is to undermine the “essence of Islam” and pressure on Iran for its nuclear and missile programs are just a “pretext”.Certain Western countries as well as media outlets hostile to Iran used the Mahsa Amini death as a pretext and launched a comprehensive psychological warfare against Iran and provoked people to rebel against the Islamic Republic system.

MP Nabaviyan said that it is not a secret to anyone that the centers that fanned the flames of unrest in Iran are outside the country, citing the BBC Persian and Iran International as examples.

“Foreigners have used lying media such as Iran International and BBC Persian to disrupt Iran and create chaos in our country and started a global media war against the Iranian nation. America, the Zionist regime, England, Germany, France and many other countries of the world acted against our country with their media outlets,” the MP lamented.

In response to a question about whether economic problems had a role in prompting some to come to the streets and riot, Nabaviyan said, “This is not the case at all. If the demand of rioters was to solve economic problems, then why did not even one of the protesters who were present in these riots chant economic slogans?”

The MP went on to note that the West has imposed all kinds of sanctions against Iran.

“They imposed all kinds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is not enough time to explain all the dimensions of the sanctions to the Iranian people in this interview, but American officials have repeatedly announced that they have not sanctioned any country in the world as much as Iran, which is completely true. For example, the Islamic Republic of Iran is sanctioned for selling, extracting and investing in oil industry. No bank in the world is open to Iran and all Iranian banks are sanctioned. They also sanctioned Iran's petrochemicals, shipping industry and shipping insurance, and there is no field in which Iran has not been sanctioned,” the MP explained.

The representative of the people of Tehran in the parliament noted that despite all the sanctions and pressures that the enemies of the Islamic Republic have exerted against the country, Iran is standing strong and the anger by America, the Zionist regime and some European countries such as France, England and Germany is that why the ruling system in Iran does not collapse.

MP says the SCO countries are seeking to form a “joint military force” in the face of NATO and establish a “bank council”.Stating that the enemies have taken the most severe measures against the Iranian nation, Nabaviyan added, “Unilateral U.S. sanctions, sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, and European Union sanctions have all been applied against our country. Recently, they also imposed a series of new sanctions against Iran, but despite all these measures, we are still standing on our feet. The reason for the resistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran against all pressures and sanctions is that our people believe in Islam and for this reason the enemies seek to destroy Islam and pure Islamic values in our country.”

The vocal MP also said the recent riots showed that the enemies’ main aim is to undermine the “essence of Islam” and pressure on Iran for its nuclear and missile programs are just a “pretext”.

Comparing the U.S. approach toward Iran and Saudi Arabia, Nabavian also said, “Saudi Arabia is a milk cow for America. And America does not interfere with the Islam that Saudi Arabia believes in, which is ‘American Islam’.”
 
 ‘Iran has great influence in the region and the world’

Emphasizing that the Islamic Republic of Iran has a great influence on the world and the region, the MP went on to note that Iran is doing various economic activities in Venezuela.

“Also, the joining of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is very important. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India and Iran are members of this organization.”

In response to a question about why the joining of Iran to the Shanghai bloc has angered the enemies, the MP said that four nuclear powers of the world, namely China, Russia, Pakistan and India, are members of this Eurasian alliance.

“Also, two members of the UN Security Council, namely Russia and China, are also members of this organization, and any resolution proposed in the Security Council, these two countries can veto it. The 9 member countries of Shanghai have 3.363 billion people, which is 43% of the world's population,” he pointed out.

He also claimed that SCO countries are seeking to form a “joint military force” in the face of NATO and establish a “bank council”.

The MP went on to say that Iran should not make the people's lives dependent on what America wants to say or do.
“America will do nothing but enmity with the Iranian people. The recent riots in Iran were led by the United States, the Zionist regime and some arrogant countries, and it should be emphasized again that these riots were their reaction to Iran's dignity. We must know that the enemies want to take away the security of the Iranian nation and we must be more alert,” Nabaviyan concluded.