Police Chief Warns Against Riots and Civil Disobedience

NAJA's Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moghdam

Photo: Press TV

NAJA (Iran’s national police) chief Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moghdam warned the participants in today’s Friday’s Prayer in Tehran that the enemies might want to take advantage of people’s economic hardships created by sanctions.

“Perhaps people’s tolerance for even slight and limited hardship is low… By way of economic pressure, (the enemies) would want to create riots, insecurity, and civil disobedience in the society,” Gen. Ahmadi-Moghdam said [Fars News Agency, 1 October].

“They [the enemies] have launched a protracted psychological war against us and today they are after exploiting the (economic) threats in their favor,” he added.

NAJA Chief’s delivery of a pre-sermon speech at Friday’s Prayer in Tehran is highly unusual and it could represent the government’s fear that the worsening economic conditions in the country in the wake of the current sanctions could trigger popular discontent and even “riots and civil disobedience” as Gen. Ahmadi-Moghdam says.

For an extensive report of Gen. Ahmadi-Moghdam’s remarks (in Farsi), please see: http://www.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8907090294