Page 13 - IRANRptJun22

2.6 Tens of thousands take part in pro-regime counter-protests in Iran
Pro-regime counter-protests involving tens of thousands of supporters of Iran’s clerical establishment, including 50,000 Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia members, have taken place in Iran, state media reported. The May 20 rallies were apparently partly organised as a response to various protests in Iran against rising food prices that turned political in some places, with protesters calling for the regime to fall.
"The enemies mistakenly think the Iranian people will respond to ...the rumours that they spread and lies they tell," Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Hossein Salami said in televised remarks at a massive rally outside the capital Tehran, Reuters reported. The rally marked a major victory in Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s.
Iranian authorities insist the unrest over rising food prices has been fomented by foreign enemies. State television broadcast footage of pro-government marchers chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in the southwestern cities of Yasuj and Shahr-e Kord, the scenes of recent food price protests.
The government has acknowledged the food inflation protests but it has described them as modest gatherings. State media, meanwhile, have reported the arrests of "dozens of rioters and provocateurs".
Authorities have also arrested a number of labour union and rights activists. They have been accused of contacts with foreigners who were allegedly in Iran to stir up unrest.
Teachers across the country and Tehran bus drivers are among other groups that have mounted substantial street protests in recent weeks. The authorities have introduced targeted internet cut-offs to hinder the communications of protest organisers appealing for support. Analysts say there is some anxiety among officials that various strikes and protests could merge into a popular movement, hence the stepping up of the crackdown.
13 IRAN Country Report June 2022 www.intellinews.com