"Iranian state TV showed images on Monday, purportedly from CCTV, showing protesters setting fire to the Mahdavieh Mosque in Karaj's Azadegan area, southern Tehran last Friday. Protesters were seen entering the mosque and setting fire to carpets and other objects. The date and location of the footage released cannot be independently verified. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Monday that protests in the country had been 'infiltrated by terrorist operatives. "Since January 8, we have encountered an entirely new and different phase. From January 8 to January 10, we observed terrorist operatives and cells infiltrated into the protest square," Araghchi claimed. "We also saw firearms and ammunition among the demonstrators. It is absolutely clear that there are agendas to derail the protests off its genuine path, to spiral into social violence and the so-called 'blood bath' and mayhem nationwide," he alleged. "It came to our attention that they were shooting not just police, but also civilians." Since late December, Iran has been grappling with protests which started in Tehran and rapidly spread to other cities over economic conditions and a currency drop compared to the US dollar. State-run media outlets reported that more than 100 police officers killed. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian announced economic plans to deal with the 'people’s demands' on Sunday, but also accused the US of trying to 'sow chaos and disorder'. On Friday, Donald Trump told Iran's authorities they "better not start shooting, because we'll start shooting too", having previously warned that he could intervene following any potential crackdown."