Foreign Minister Refutes Western Media Claims against Iran

Regarding Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei's decision to pardon a large number of individuals arrested during the riots, Amirabdollahian stated that the decision was made in the spirit of mercy and clemency during the celebration marking the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution. He clarified that only those who committed serious crimes, such as murder, would not be released.

The top diplomat dismissed claims of widespread arrests of students, stating that only those involved in the street riots were detained. He further disputed the accuracy of reports of tens of thousands of arrests, saying that the numbers were "played up" by some so-called human rights groups.

Amirabdollahian also shed light on the role of foreign intervention in escalating the violence during the riots. He said some neighboring countries were smuggling American and Israeli weapons to the rioters, which were then used to escalate the clashes.

On the subject of detained journalists, the foreign minister stated that there was no knowledge of any journalists having been arrested and that it was easy to falsely label someone as a journalist. He provided the example of a recent case in which a person fled Iran and claimed to be a protester and a victim of torture, but was later found to be a fraud.

He criticized the selective coverage of Western media, citing the lack of coverage of human rights activist Shireen Abu Akleh in comparison to the media attention given to Mahsa Amini.

"You see, the West has carefully and meticulously targeted the riots. Allow me to ask this question to you. You see, there was a lot of maneuvering on (the case of) Mahsa Amini by Western media. But when it comes to Shireen Abu Akleh, did they really cover her?,” Amirabdollahian said.