TEHRAN, January 19. /TASS/. More than 250 schools, 300 mosques, and 90 religious educational institutions were damaged during the riots in Iran, Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Chairman Ebrahim Azizi said.

"During these events, more than 250 schools, as well as 300 mosques, 90 religious educational institutions, and 2,221 vehicles belonging to law enforcement agencies and the Basij volunteer militia [of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] were damaged," Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.

Unrest in Iran began on December 29 after street protests triggered by a sharp fall in the Iranian rial exchange rate, spreading 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. The Iranian authorities blamed Israel and the United States for organizing the unrest.