Iran is blaming 20 countries, including Israel, of being involved in nationwide protests last year sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, AFP reported on Monday.
“Investigations carried out by the intelligence services of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) indicate that around 20 countries were involved in the riots,” said the head of Iran”s intelligence services, General Mohammad Kazemi.
In addition to Israel, Kazemi alleged that the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Belgium, and Italy Israel were among the countries involved in inciting the protests.
Saudi Arabia, with which Iran has recently resumed diplomatic ties after a seven-year rupture, and the United Arab Emirates were also involved, he claimed.
Kazemi alleged that Emirati and Israeli intelligence agencies held “periodic meetings in an Arab country to back the troubles” in Iran, without elaborating.
Iran witnessed waves of nationwide protests following the September 16 death of 22-year-old Amini, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the Islamic Republic’s strict dress rules for women.
The government crackdown on the demonstrations resulted in hundreds of people being killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands arrested.

In addition to those who have already been executed over their involvement in the protests, death sentences have been handed down to others.
Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have long accused “hostile foreign powers” of stoking the unrest.