Iranian Intelligence Forces Take Action against Riot Masterminds
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian intelligence forces have identified and taken action against the members of a network who were plotting to provoke riots in Iran.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said they have delivered a "serious blow" to a network seeking to organize riots across the country.
The operation managed to "identify and deal a blow to some members of the riot organization network" on the back of joint intelligence work carried out by the bodies' operatives, read the statement.
The network's members were being funded by the United States State Department and led by the Freedom House, a Washington-based so-called political advocacy group, and the Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy, a Massachusetts-based anti-Iran organization, it noted.
Directed by "a foreign-based political element," the members were seeking to mobilize "women so that they could play a role in (fomenting) riots," Press TV reported.
As a means of furthering its goals, the network would conduct free courses for some foreign- and Iran-based alleged "women rights and civil society activists."
The network held its last workshop for foreign-based so-called activists at the United Kingdom's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) university earlier this year, with "one of the correspondents of anti-Iran media outlets" as instructor.
It had also planned to hold a "secret online course" over two days throughout September, involving a number of "activists."
"The courses had sought to create the (necessary) preparation and devise agendas" for Iran-based rioters, the statement concluded.