Iran accused Israel on Monday of trying to undermine its national unity after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for protests in the Islamic republic.
"The Zionist regime (Israel) is determined to exploit the slightest opportunity to sow division and undermine our national unity, and we must remain vigilant," foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said at a weekly press conference, before accusing Israeli and US leaders of "incitement to violence".
New deadly clashes between protesters and security forces erupted in Iran, rights groups and local media said Sunday, as demonstrations first sparked by anger over the rising cost of living entered a second week.
At least 12 people, including members of the security forces, have been killed since the protests kicked off with a shopkeepers' strike in Tehran on December 28, according to a toll based on official reports.
Overnight, protests featuring slogans criticizing Iran’s clerical authorities were reported in Tehran, Shiraz in the south, and in areas of western Iran where the movement has been concentrated, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) monitor.
The demonstrations are the most significant in Iran since a 2022-2023 movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.
The latest protests have been concentrated in parts of the west with large populations of the Kurdish and Lor minorities, and have yet to reach the scale of the 2022-2023 movement, let alone the mass street demonstrations that followed disputed 2009 presidential elections.
