December 31st, 2017 
(ZERO HEDGE) — by Tyler Durden
On the fourth day of “spontaneous” protests to sweep Iran just days after Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US reached a secret agreement to do everything in their power to destabilize the Iranian government by diplomatic means or otherwise, Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed to “crush dissent” and take tough action if the unrest continued.
Protesters “must certainly know that improper behavior will be to their detriment, and the nation will come out and stand against these actions and throw a hard punch in their faces,” the Revolutionary Guard’s commander for security in Tehran, Brigadier General Esmail Kowsari, said according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency late Saturday.
The threat from the IRGC came a day after Iranian authorities blocked the nation’s internet, interrupted the main networks, and restricted access to the country’s most popular social media platform, Signal, in response to one of the biggest shows of dissent against its leadership in years, in which as we reported yesterday two people were killed in clashes with security forces in the western city of Dorud, the first casualties since anti-government protests erupted on Thursday. The deputy governor of Lorestan province blamed foreign agents for the deaths.
“No shots were fired by the police and security forces. We have found evidence of enemies of the revolution, Takfiri groups and foreign agents in this clash,” Habibollah Khojastehpour said on state television. Takfiri is a term for extreme Sunni militants such as Islamic State.
Protesters also attacked banks and government buildings and burned police vehicles.
Protesters defied the police and Revolutionary Guards who have used violence to crush previous unrest. The demonstrations could be more worrying for authorities because they seem spontaneous and lack a clear leader… Almost as if the protests were organized from abroad.
As Bloomberg notes, the rare public challenge to the government and the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “has erupted at a time of deepened strains between Iran and the U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed additional sanctions on Tehran and threatened to quit Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.” It also “surprisingly” comes days after we reported that “US And Israel Reach “Secret Plan” To Counter Iran”, and one month after Israel said it was “Ready To Share Intel With Saudis “Against Iran” Ahead Of Possible War”, and also a “”Bombshell” Leaked Secret Israeli Cable Confirmed Israeli-Saudi Coordination To Provoke War with Iran.”
Almost as if the events are connected…
Meanwhile, in another Twitter post on the unrest Sunday, Trump said, “The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism.” The president also added that it “[l]ooks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!” Violations which the CIA may or may not have been itching to tweet it was sponsoring.
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