Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit out at the European Union's parliment ban on Iranian diplomats in a post on X/Twitter on Tuesday, claiming that the Islamic Republic would prepare to respond in kind.
"More than two years of Genocide in Gaza that has claimed the lives of 70,000 Palestinians has not led the European Parliament to take any real action against Israel. In contrast, it takes only a few days of violent riots in Iran for the European Parliament to physically ban our diplomats," he wrote.
"People are not stupid. They see what is unfolding with their own eyes. Iran does not seek enmity with the EU, but will reciprocate any restriction."
In a Tuesday interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi claimed that the Islamic Republic tolerates protests, but has a firm policy on what he deemed terrorism. He alleged that the Islamic Republic treats “protesters with patience and calm and we listen to them. But our policy toward terrorism is firm.
“We will never allow terrorist agents and terrorist groups, especially those directed from abroad and particularly by Israel, to continue their actions.”
“If you follow Israeli media, they would always repeat that the situation in Iran is under Israel’s control, and that their agents move among the protesters and speak Persian,” he said.
Iran FM Araghchi claims Mossad involvement in anti-regime protests
“Most important of all is a tweet by Mike Pompeo, the former US secretary of state and CIA director under Trump, who congratulated all Iranians and Mossad agents who are with them on the New Year.”
“Is there a clearer confession than this? This shows that Mossad was trying to bring its terrorist agents into Iran. Where did the weapons come from? Weapons were distributed among the protesters, and they created panic and fear. This phenomenon is completely different from a normal protest.”
This comes as anti-regime protests have erupted in all 31 of Iran's provinces over the past two weeks, leading to crackdowns and state-backed violence against demonstrators.
Iran International has estimated that over 12,000 people have died during the protests. However, HRANA has only confirmed that 646 people have been killed during the course of the protests, 505 of them demonstrators.
Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, in an interview with Fox News, appeared to confirm a higher number, saying that Iranians "suffered more casualties than the US did after the 9/11 attack" in the past 48 hours.
"This is a moment that is defining. This is an opportunity to liberate that nation," Pahlavi added.