TEHRAN – US President Donald Trump’s support for rioters in Iran laid barethe US scheme to foment a new sedition in the Islamic Republic, deputychief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said.link>link>link>link>Thehighest-ranking US official’s direct expression of support for rioters inrecent protests in Iran and the supportive voices by a number of othergovernments and Western media outlets reveal that the US had plans forinciting a sedition inside Iran, Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said onMonday.

Pointing to a humiliating defeat that enemies suffered in their recentattempts to hijack the peaceful rallies in Iran, the general said the evilAmerican and Zionist plots against the Islamic Republic have been hatchedwhile the US itself saw various public protests against Washington’spolicies and measures in 2017.

He further expected a rise in public uprisings and opposition voices in theUS in 2018, saying more US states are beginning to call for secession fromthe central government.

In separate comments in a gathering of lawmakers on Monday, PresidentHassan Rouhani lashed out at his US counterpart for commenting on therecent protests in Iran, saying the man who already called the Iranianpeople terrorists has no right to sympathize with the nation.

Some cities of Iran witnessed rallies over the past days in protest atprice hikes and economic woes.

Police arrested a number of demonstrators who were trying to damage publicproperty in the gatherings.

According to Article 27 of the Iranian Constitution, “public gatherings andmarches are allowed so long as the participants do not carry arms and arenot in violation of the fundamental principles of Islam.”

Following the civil rallies, some Western and Arab media outlets tried toportray the protests as a political uprising against the Establishment.

Iranian officials maintain that people have the right to stage protests toexpress their opinions, as long as the rallies comply with the legalconditions.