TEHRAN – The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced Tuesday that they arrested a number of individuals implicated in fomenting unrest and insecurity in Iran.

The IRGC said that it dismantled a “sabotage network” in Markazi province directed by counter-revolutionary elements residing in Germany and the Netherlands, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

The Markazi province branch of the IRGC said in a statement that the network includes 12 individuals who acted against Iran’s national security through providing arms. The network, the statement said, intended to undertake acts of sabotage. 

The statement also said that foreign spy agencies have admittedly said in their private meetings that the “riots project” has failed. It noted that these agencies are now focused on strikes action with the purpose of distracting Iran intelligence and security forces. 

“Overcoming these days requires the smartness of the loyal individuals and the true owners of Iran, particularly the merchants, students, and workers,” the statement said. 

Also, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence issued a separate statement on Tuesday saying that it identified and busted a number of operational cells linked to Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), which is locally known as the Hypocrites. The Ministry pointed out that the said cells exacerbated insecurity by hurling grenades at military, police, administrative, and residential buildings. 
According to this statement, 10 individuals were arrested in connection with these cells in Tehran, Isfahan, and Kurdistan provinces. 

The Iranian authorities have blamed the recent unrest on the enemies, saying that foreign countries were implicated in instigating unrest and riots. 

President Ebrahim Raisi stressed on Thursday that the enemy committed a "scandalous miscalculation" by provoking the recent riots in Iran over the murder of a young woman of Kurdish heritage, but the Iranian nation foiled their plans to sow instability and create turmoil across the country.

Raisi made the comments during a trip to Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, in western Iran.

The provincial visit was significant as it took place more than two months of sporadic protests that erupted over the death of Mahsa Amini.

Mahsa Amini, a 22-yeard old woman, fainted in morality police custody in Tehran on September 13 and died three days later in hospital.

A coroner’s report found out that she died because of a chronic illness rather rumored blow to hear head.

A senior Iranian general has said that the recent unrest that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini were the produce of 47 spy agencies.

General Qolamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basjij Organization, said in the enemy used a “hybrid warfare” against Iran in the recent unrest, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Speaking before a group of Basij members in Tehran on Wednesday morning, General Soleimani said “sedition of riots” was supposed to kick off simultaneously with the start of the academic year in Iran but it took place earlier and “47 spy agencies waged an all-out hybrid war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Two of Iran’s leading intelligence agencies have published a lengthy report detailing foreign meddling in Iran during the unrest. And the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, has said on various occasions that the U.S. and some of its allies were involved in Iran’s unrest.

In an early October speech, the Leader had said that the riots that erupted in the wake of the Mahsa Amini death were planned by the enemy. “In the incident that took place, a young girl passed away. Well, it was a bitter event. It saddened me very much too.

But the right reaction to this incident, before investigations could take place, before anything was certain yet, was not for some to come and make the streets insecure. It was not to create insecurity for people, to disrupt security, burn the Qur’an, pull off women’s scarves, and to set fire to mosques, hussainiyahs, banks, and people’s cars. This kind of reaction to a case, which was unfortunate, was not normal.

This was not a natural response,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. He added, “These riots were planned. These riots had been planned. If the incident with the young girl had not taken place, they would have found another excuse to create insecurity and riots in the country in the beginning of the month of Mehr (September) this year.