IRGC Commander-in-Chief General Hossein Salami said at a funeral held for IRGC members who were killed in a recent terrorist shooting in Shiraz, Iran, that the current anti-regime protests are part of a "sinister plot" advanced by American and Zionist thinktanks. He said that the protesters are under Western, Saudi, and Israeli influence even if they have not been in direct contact with these parties, and he explained that foreign media outlets are "forcing" the protestors to rise up against their own society. He warned the "outdated" American, Israeli, British, and Saudi regimes that Iran will take revenge against them through their youth, and he said that the freedoms promised by the West are immoral. In addition, he warned the protestors in Iran that they must not "exploit" the restraint shown by the Iranian regime. The funeral was aired on Channel 1 (Iran).
Hossein Salami: "To our dear youth I say: Be careful. You are being deceived. Nobody in this country will allow you to instigate insecurity, riots, and arson. Do not exploit the restraint shown by the regime. Do not toy with our people's patience.
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"How is it that a small number of students have begun to echo foreigners? Dear students, return to the bosom of the [Iranian] people. Open your eyes and see the truth. Do not turn the universities into America's battlefield against our people. Come back, your path back is open. We want you [to show] moral virtue. What happened that made a small number of students – people who only look like students – voice slogans that use the most obscene language?
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"Does freedom mean nudity? Does freedom mean trampling down the divine values and prohibitions? Does freedom mean promiscuity? The freedom that America promises the Iranian people is the same freedom it gave them in the days of the Shah: freedom to gamble, to drink wine, to engage in illegitimate relations, and to destroy morality.
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"To the small number of our youth who have been deceived, we say: Put this evil aside. Today is the day these riots end. Do not take to the streets. What do you want from this people?
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"This sinister plot was conceived by the thinktanks of the White House and the Zionist regime. The youth might tell us that our claim about this being an American plot is not true. No, dear [students]. Do not think that Biden must call you on the phone and tell you to take to the streets.
"You don't have to get a call from General Dempsey either, of McKenzie, or Benny Gantz, or Naftali Bennett, or [Yair] Lapid, or Bin Salman, who cut the body of that journalist [Khashoggi] to pieces and then dissolved it in acid. They do not contact you directly. They do this through their media outlets. They force you to confront your own society, your own public, and your own fighters. Pay attention. This sinister strife will bring you no good outcome. Do not ruin your future.
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"I warn these rotten and outdated regimes – America, Israel, England, and especially, Saudi Arabia – the rotten Saudi regime...
"I have said this before. We will come to you with the same young people. We will not let you go. We will take revenge. Know that.
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"Oh America, a few days ago Biden said: 'We are not interfering too much so that the regime in Iran would not be able to use this as a pretext to extinguish these riots.' See how both clever and stupid this is. Mr. Biden, we expelled you from Iran and from the region. And we will bury your desired [plans] in this land."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar!"
Salami: "To the Saud clan and to the media outlets under their control that orchestrate this strife, we say: Beware! We are coming for you! Do not be calm! You show footage, create provocations, and sow the seeds of strife. Think a little about what can happen to you. I won't say more but do not be so calm.
"You cannot cause unrest for our people and expect to remain calm yourselves. We will take your calmness away."
Crowd: "Allah Akbar!"