Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested about 100 leaders of the protests that erupted last week over gasoline price rises, Gholamhossein Esmaili, spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, said on Friday.
“Approximately 100 leaders, heads and main figures of the recent unrest were identified and arrested in various parts of the country by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” Esmaili was quoted by Reuters as having said.
Iranian authorities have said about 1,000 demonstrators have been arrested.
Anyone who created insecurity or damaged public property will face “severe punishment”, the head the judiciary, Ebrahimi Raisi, said on Friday, according to Reuters, which quoted Iranian media.
A large number of people arrested who had taken part in the protests but did not take part in causing damage or setting fires have been released, Esmaili said.
The unrest erupted a week ago Friday, hours after it was announced that the price of gas would rise to 15,000 rials per liter (12 US cents) from 10,000 for the first 60 liters, and to 30,000 rials for any extra fuel bought after that each month.
Amnesty International said it had documented at least 106 deaths of protesters killed by security forces, making it the worst street unrest in Iran in at least a decade and possibly since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In an attempt to stop the protests from spreading, the Iranian regime shut down the internet for days, making it difficult to obtain reliable reports of the extent of the unrest.
On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared “victory” over foreign enemies as the protests calmed down.
Tehran has blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and foreign foes - the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia - for the unrest.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)