Israel's Chief Intel Calls Protests In Iran Speaking Of Insurgency, But Does Not Hazard The Government

Protests against the deaths of Mahsa Amini and other protesters in Iran. (Wikimedia Commons/Ideophagous)

JAKARTA - Israel's military intelligence chief said on Monday the protests that rocked Iran began to resemble a people's uprising.

However, he sees "no real danger" to the current continuity of Tehran's ruling government regime.

National protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September in police custody of morality, have become the most intense in an area where a majority of the 10 million Iranian Kurds live.

Israel, which is locked in decades-long conflicts such as the Cold War with Iran, has witnessed developments as it seeks to persuade world powers, to strengthen diplomacy intended to curb Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

"I think the protests have shifted, to some extent, to the realm of the people's uprising," military intelligence chief Israle Major General Aharon HaIVA told Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies.

"When you see some incidents, even hours of occurrence, damage to national institutions, symbols of the country, the number of casualties, something different is happening here that is very disturbing to the regime," he explained.

"At the moment I don't see any real danger to the regime," he added, but warned that "the turmoil, in the context of people's behavior, is not something that relies on the head of military intelligence, although he may be right."

As previously reported, about 400 protesters and 50 members of the security forces were killed during protests in Iran in the past two months, triggered by Amini's death. Demonstrators initially called for more women's rights, before demanding better living conditions amid high inflation and shortages of basic necessities.

Yesterday, Iran was said to have carried out a drone missile strike against a semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, targeting Kurdish dissidents to blame for instigating protests and riots. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the attack on Telegram's social media site.