2nd LD: Iran's top leader blames U.S., Israel for inciting recent unrests

TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday blamed the foreigners, including United States and Israel, for inciting recent unrests in a number of Iranian cities, semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

The plot for the recent unrests in Iran had been developed by the United States and Israel who had been working on their scheme for months, Khamenei said.

The money for carrying out the plot was provided by one of the rich states in the Persian Gulf region, he said, implicitly referring to Saudi Arabia which was also blamed by other Iranian officials over the past days.

The dissident MKO, with its headquarters based in France's Paris, was the third side to contribute to the violence in Iran, he said.

Khamenei described the recent wave of violence that hit some areas of the country as "fireworks and vicious acts," Press TV reported.

Over the past week, protests erupted in a number of Iranian cities against the government's economic policies.

At least 20 people, including civilians and policemen, were killed and dozens of others were injured during violent clashes between the protesters and security forces, according to unofficial reports. Enditem