MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. The unrest in Iran was provoked by Israeli agents, Iran's ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said in a think piece prepared for TASS.

From the standpoint of regional developments, the events of January 8 should be viewed as "a continuation of a chain of events that began in June 2025 and the 12-day war waged by the Israeli regime and the United States against Iran," the ambassador noted.

"This time, the Iranian government was engaged in negotiations, reconciliation efforts, and a search for ways to resolve the problem when Israeli terrorist units suddenly began operating in various cities, using peaceful workers’ demonstrations as a tool of proxy warfare under the guise of chaos and riots," the Iranian diplomat said.

The ambassador also noted that an analysis of the key players’ actions during the period in question shows "a shift in tactics and a turn to violence following the failure to achieve the stated objectives."

Unrest in Iran began on December 29, 2025, when street protests triggered by a sharp fall in the Iranian rial exchange rate spread across most major cities. Authorities reported the deaths of 40 law enforcement officers. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, armed terrorists appeared among the demonstrators on January 8.