Iran Defense Minister Says US, Israel Orchestrated Riots, Directed Weapons, Cash

Thursday, 15 January 2026 11:41 AM

Photo taken on January 9, 2026, shows aftermath of rioters’ torching of bank in Tehran. (Photo by IRIB)

Iran’s defense minister says the United States and Israel orchestrated riots inside Iran, directing the flow of weapons and cash to fuel violence and destabilization amid a broader plan to fragment the country.

Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Thursday that Iran has “precise intelligence” showing the United States, the Israeli regime, and some of their allied countries set up joint coordination centers to shape a future for "separatists" and terrorists.

He said those meetings went as far as planning for each “separated region” to draft its own constitution, while foreign sponsors directed weapons smuggling and provided financial and logistical support.

Nasirzadeh said Iranian intelligence has full oversight of these plans, including joint sessions held in one of the countries in the region with the aim of designing "unrest" inside Iran.

According to him, US spy services and several Western countries presented “their own specific programs to increase budgets” for destabilization during those meetings.

He said even the “rates” for destruction and killing inside Iran were set.

“For killing each person, 500 million tomans (roughly 3,300 USD). For burning each car, 200 million tomans (roughly 1,300 USD). For setting police stations on fire, 80 million tomans (roughly 530 USD). And for any disruptive action, 15 million tomans (roughly 100 USD),” he said.

Nasirzadeh stressed that assigning 500 million tomans per killing shows the clear objective was “manufacturing deaths.”

In this connection, he said one individual has been arrested who received some 6,000 USD for carrying out such acts.

He added that most victims were killed with knives, by suffocation, or by close-range blows, noting that nearly 60 percent were struck close to the head.

Nasirzadeh quoted one of the wounded detainees as saying: “The same person who invited me to the riots attacked me, and after some time passed, he shot me and said, ‘You are no longer useful.’”

He said riot leaders distributed industrial drugs among participants to intensify violence, promote savage behavior and neutralize human emotions.

Some of those killed, he said, were terrorists who had consumed so much narcotics that they “died without showing any physical reaction.”

According to the defense minister, team leaders even killed their own operatives and rioters, shooting them at close range to the head to manufacture deaths and inflame public emotions.

Nasirzadeh said US and Israeli officials “did not hide their malicious intent at all this time” and openly broke taboos by admitting to the role of foreign elements in Iran’s internal affairs.

The remarks come amid recent unrest that initially began as peaceful, sporadic protests by some merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, driven by currency fluctuations and rising inflation linked to unlawful sanctions imposed on Iran, particularly by the United States and several European countries.

Those protests remained peaceful for about a week, during which President Masoud Pezeshkian and his administration held talks with representatives of the protesters to hear their demands.

Authorities say the situation changed on January 8, when organized and deliberate violence overtook the economic protests, carried out by foreign-backed rioters and saboteurs.

Armed groups attacked public property, including shops, banks, bus stations and mosques, and killed a number of security personnel trying to restore order.

Officials say evidence shows foreign-backed terrorist groups used and distributed weapons and deliberately targeted civilians and security forces, holding Israel and the United States directly responsible for the violence.

While senior officials have urged people to distance themselves from armed rioters and terrorists, the judiciary has warned there will be “no leniency” toward those involved in terrorism and vandalism.

There is still no official estimate of the total number of casualties from the riots.