TEHRAN, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned a recent "meddlesome" remark by the Group of Seven (G7) states concerning the recent unrest in the country.
The ministry described the joint statement issued earlier this week by the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States, along with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, as "clear proof of the G7 states' hypocritical approach towards human rights," according to a statement released on Friday night.
The G7 foreign ministers accused the Iranian government of taking violent actions against economic protesters in the country and of human rights violations.
The Iranian ministry claimed that, under the influence of the United States and Israel, the G7 countries "are consciously ignoring the obvious fact that the Iranian people's peaceful gatherings were turned violent following the organized entry of terrorist individuals equipped by Israel during Jan. 8-10, which resulted in attacks on a large number of protesters and law enforcement forces, and their deaths and injuries."
It added that statements and explicit remarks by former and current U.S. and Israeli officials, which encouraged violence and the killing of Iranian citizens during the unrest, together with extensive evidence collected by Iran's security authorities, are "proof of Israel's direct role in equipping and organizing the armed terrorists and the U.S. support for them."
The ministry said that, while emphasizing its legal, moral and human commitment to protecting the fundamental rights of its people, including the right to peaceful protest, Iran would fulfill its responsibility to safeguard citizens' security and maintain public order against foreign-imported terrorism, as well as defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity against any external threat or aggression.
It urged the G7 states to stop interfering in Iran's internal affairs, rather than issuing "deceptive and meddlesome" statements; to end the "cruel and unlawful" sanctions on the Iranian people; and to refrain from "abusing" human rights rhetoric as a pretext to continue interference and incite violence and terrorism.
The current wave of instability was triggered last month by a sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial and sweeping reforms to government subsidies. What began as an economic protest quickly morphed into nationwide unrest, leading to violent clashes between police and demonstrators. ■
