Pro-regime rallies were held around Tehran on Friday with authorities seeking to put the recent violent unrest to bed, as Washington slapped fresh sanctions on Iran and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting. The US imposed sanctions against five Iranian firms alleged to have been working on an illegal ballistic missile programme, linking the move to the protests. On the streets of Tehran, a heavy police presence lingered though there were no reports of fresh protests overnight. The UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the issue later Friday at the request of the United States. ‘CIA plot’Chief prosecutor Mohamamd Jafar Montazeri blamed the unrest on a plot dating back four years by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Source: Pakistan Today January 05, 2018 15:00 UTC