The Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday evening to the APA that the reports “cannot be confirmed at the moment”, but are urging the Iranian embassy and the authorities in Tehran for urgent clarification”.
Iran has blamed “thugs” and “rioters” linked to “foreign enemies” for the nationwide protests that erupted after the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
“Citizens from 14 countries, including Austria, the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Afghanistan, have been arrested in the recent unrest in Iran, with Afghan nationals being the most numerous,” Fars reported, without naming a source. Fars, who is believed to be linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, did not say when or where the arrests were made.
The nationwide protests sparked by Amini’s death have become one of the greatest challenges facing Iran’s clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution. Tehran accuses the United States, Israel and European countries of using the unrest to destabilize the Islamic Republic.
Source: Nachrichten
