"Iranian state television aired footage on Friday purporting to show large rallies in support of the government and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the city of Qazvin, north of Tehran. The footage shows crowds waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of the Supreme Leader. The precise location of the gathering could not be independently verified. “We are ready in every way. Our souls and our blood are sacrifices for our leader (Khamenei),” one participant said. “We used to take part in protests, but they have now turned into chaos. And when chaos reigns, we must intervene and defend our nation,” another participant said. Earlier, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused Israel of being involved in the unrest. “Some Israeli officials said we do not need to confront Iran with military operations using planes and missiles this time. We are using the structures we have created inside Iran to create a new adventure for it,” Larijani said. Israel has not responded to Larijani’s allegations, and Israeli authorities had not commented publicly on the protests at the time of publication. Unrest has been reported in several Iranian cities, with protests in some areas escalating into riots and damage to public property. Tehran’s police chief said on Tuesday that security forces had responded to rioters with 'power and force', adding that a 'large number' had been arrested after being separated from peaceful protesters. The protests began in Tehran in late December and later spread to other cities, driven by worsening economic conditions and the decline of the national currency. Iranian officials say they are seeking to address protesters’ 'justified' demands within existing capabilities, while warning that hostile actors are exploiting economic hardship to fuel unrest. On January 2, Donald Trump warned in a post on his Truth Social platform that if Iranian authorities fired on protesters, “the United States of America will come to their rescue”."