TEHRAN— Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Sunday criticized the CIA and Mossad for turning protests into riots in Iran, saying these spy services intend to create a “new Daesh”.

Referring to the martyrdom of a number of security forces in the recent riots, Qalibaf stated, “The recent incidents and events carried a clear message and once again showed that the main organizers of the riots, i.e. CIA, Mossad and their groups are not looking for the results of the protestors' demands, but they have put the creation of a new Daesh in their agenda by turning the protests into riots and turning the riots into crimes.”

He went on to note that Iran's enemies could not infiltrate the country through the borders with the guards under the command of martyr General Qassem Soleimani.

“Today they have reproduced Daesh from within, and the main regret is that some cultural, artistic, sports, and political figures support this new Daesh and make it possible to survive,” the parliament speaker lamented.

The Majlis speaker continued his remarks by advising these people to listen to the news of these crimes and see the reality instead of only listening to the London-based media outlets.

Addressing an open session of the parliament, Qalibaf stated, “They should see that these new Daesh, like the Daesh in Syria and Iraq, torture and kill innocent people for no reason, and like them, they proudly release the clips of their crimes and advertise them. If they can, they will not show mercy to anyone, as they created such a suffocation in the cyberspace that anyone who acted against their wishes would face the worst insults.”

They are trying to justify their crimes with the excuse that security forces are killing the protesters, the top legislator said, adding this is while the security forces are only equipped with special weapons to deal with rioters.

“The testimony of the police and other security forces during this period is the reason for this claim. These forces protect their lives against these criminals, but they do not use firearms so that people do not get hurt in the meantime. Not seeing these facts will bring a worse disaster than Daesh,” Qalibaf warned.

Qalibaf also addressed the security and media officials, saying that today the people demand security from the officials, and to establish security in the “hybrid war” entails certain criteria, so as not to give the enemy an excuse to create Daesh.

“This should not happen and no one should dare to act like Daesh and the protestors should be freed from the ideological captivity of the Daesh media,” he added.

“As the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, we are involved in a hybrid war and defense in such a war requires a response of its own kind. Past experiences have been enough for the responsible agencies to prepare themselves for a ‘hybrid defense’ against a ‘hybrid war” as soon as possible,” he advised.

According to the top legislator, one of the goals of this hybrid war is to divert officials’ attention from their main duties.

“As the Leader of the Revolution said in a meeting with the members of the Expediency Council, ‘Don't let these issues distract your officials and don't stop you from the main and essential work.’ Therefore, the Majlis is ready to provide any assistance to the government in this regard with more efforts than before and we expect the officials to be more careful and monitor the prices and the foreign currency market,” Qalibaf demanded.

In conclusion, the parliament speaker expressed hope that security will be fully established as soon as possible, so that the legitimate and necessary changes towards new governance in the economic, social and political fields within the framework of the political system of the Islamic Republic would commence.