Russia warns US not to meddle in Iran during protests

Moscow on Thursday warned Washington against interfering in Iran’s “internal affairs” after US President Donald Trump pledged to help Iranians “take back” their government following protests.

The White House said it was weighing sanctions against those involved in a crackdown against the unrest, which has left 21 dead over five days.

“We warn the US against any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with state news agency TASS.

“Despite the many attempts to distort what is really going on (in Iran), I am sure that our neighbor, our friend, will overcome its current difficulties,” Ryabkov said.

Ryabkov said Washington “is tempted to use the moment to raise new issues with regard to the JCPOA,” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that limits Iran’s nuclear program, including restricting uranium enrichment for 10 years.

He also criticized a call by US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the violence.

Iran on Wednesday angrily accused the US at the UN of meddling in its domestic affairs.

Iran’s UN Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo said in a letter that the US government “has stepped up its acts of intervention in a grotesque way in Iran’s internal affairs under the pretext of providing support for sporadic protests, which in several instances were hijacked by infiltrators.”

Khoshroo charged that the United States had violated international law and the principles of the UN charter, and urged countries to condemn Washington’s statements.

“The president and vice president of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts,” said Khoshroo in the letter to the Security Council and to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“The US Department of State went so far as admitting that the US government wants to encourage protesters in Iran to change their government, admitting that the US is engaged in interfering with the internal affairs of Iran through Facebook and Twitter,” he added.

The letter was released after Trump pledged to help Iranians “take back” their government and the White House weighed sanctions against those involved in the crackdown against demonstrators.

“Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!” Trump tweeted.

On Tuesday, Haley said she would be seeking an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the violence that has left 21 dead.

But diplomats said Wednesday that no such meeting was scheduled for the time being.

Protests over economic problems broke out in Iran’s second largest city Mashhad on December 28 and quickly spread across the country, turning against the regime as a whole.

Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in several cities on Wednesday and Thursday for pro-regime rallies.