But the government has also pledged to tackle the economic hardships sparked by the demonstrations, which have been met with a crackdown that rights groups say has left thousands dead.
The protests have been the biggest challenge to Iran’s leadership in years, and the full extent of the violence has yet to emerge amid the internet blackout.
National Police Chief Ahmad-Reza Radan on Monday called on young people “deceived” to join the “riots” to surrender and receive a lighter sentence.
Those “who unwittingly joined the riots are considered duped individuals, not enemy soldiers” and “will be treated with leniency,” he told state television.
Officials said the demonstrations were peaceful before they turned into chaos fueled by Iran’s sworn enemies the United States and Israel in an effort to destabilize the nation.
The country’s executive, legislative and judicial heads pledged on Monday to work “around the clock” to “solve livelihood and economic problems,” according to a joint statement on state television.
But they would also “decisively punish” instigators of “terrorist incidents,” according to a statement by President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.
Concerns are growing over the possibility that authorities will use the death penalty against protesters.
The United Nations warned on Monday that the country was using executions as a “means of intimidation”.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
