TEHRAN, January 12, 2026 (NA/Xinhua) – The situation is "under total control," assured Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, following the wave of violence linked to protests over the past few days, and pointed to U.S. interference.
He said this in a meeting with foreign diplomats, where he emphasized that the national protests "became violent and bloody" in order to give an "excuse" to U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene, as reported by the Al Jazeera television channel and picked up by the Argentine News Agency.
Simultaneously, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, publicly thanked "the great work of the honorable Iranian nation in the massive demonstrations" in support of the current Iranian government that took place this Monday, counter to the antigovernment protests.
As an immediate precedent, in Venezuela, days after U.S. militias penetrated its territory and extracted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the place where they were resting, social movements responsive to Chavismo called for a street mobilization that, although it occupied only two blocks, served for the international press to interpret as popular resistance to the North American operation.
Khamenei stated in a message to the Iranian people: "Today you have done a great job and have created a historic day."
"This has been a warning to American politicians to stop deceiving and not trust traitorous mercenaries," he added, while highlighting the strength and power of the "aware and insightful people" with respect to its enemies."
Trigger of the Protests
The protests in Iran, active since late December, have taken place in a scenario of economic crisis and strong depreciation of the national currency, spreading throughout the country.
The Iranian Foreign Minister linked them to Trump's warning of a possible military action against Tehran if they turned bloody, and, in his interpretation, in this way he encouraged "terrorists" to attack both protesters and security forces with the aim of provoking a foreign intervention.
The Jerusalem Post had reported last week that Washington was considering such an action to support the protesters in the Persian nation, while Israel was studying whether the recent kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro could set a precedent applicable to the Iranian government.
Araghchi stated that Iran has obtained evidence of the involvement of the United States and Israel in "terrorist activities" within the country, including audiovisual material that would show the distribution of weapons to protesters, and indicated that the authorities will soon disclose confessions of detainees.
IP
Regarding the national internet outage that lasted for several days, the Minister of Foreign Affairs indicated that the Government is coordinating with security authorities to guarantee that the service will be restored shortly.
AgenciaNA
"These vast concentrations, full of firm determination, have frustrated the plans of foreign enemies that were to be carried out by internal mercenaries." He also highlighted the "determination" and "identity" that the Iranian nation demonstrated "before the plot of foreign enemies that intended to carry out national mercenaries."
