Nahid Khodakarami, a member of the Tehran City Council, expressed concerns about those arrested during the antigovernment protests.
She tweeted: "As a representative of the noble people of Tehran, I call on the relevant agencies to clarify the situation and report how many Tehran residents have been detained during the recent events. How many students [were detained]? How many have been released?"
From RFE/RL’s Radio Farda:
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says antigovernment protests that it blames on foreign instigators have been "defeated."
In a January 7 statement, the IRGC said "Iran's revolutionary people along with tens of thousands of Basij forces, police and the Intelligence Ministry have broken down the chain [of unrest] created...by the United States, Britain," Israel, Saudi Arabia, militants, and monarchists.
Iran's Parliament Holds Special Meeting On Antigovernment Protests
From AFP:
The Iranian parliament held a closed-door meeting on January 7 to discuss the deadly protests that hit the country last week, while more pro-regime rallies were held in several cities.
Lawmakers interrogated Interior Minister Abdolrahmani Rahmani Fazli, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, parliament's ICANA website reported.
Some voiced concern over the internet controls put in place during the unrest, including a ban on Iran's most popular messaging app, Telegram, which officials said had been used to incite violence.
"The parliament is not in favour of keeping Telegram filtering in place, but it must pledge that it will not be used as a tool by the enemies of the Iranian people," Behrouz Nemati, spokesman for the parliament's presiding board, wrote on Instagram, which was also temporarily blocked during the unrest.
Many Iranians use Telegram as their main source of news and a way of bypassing the highly restrictive state media, with almost a third of Iran's 80 million people using the app daily.
Some 9,000 online businesses have been disrupted by the blocking, semi-official news agency ISNA reported, quoting a report by the culture ministry's digital media center.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Iran protests for Saturday, January 6, 2018. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
Summary of developments on January 6
Thousands of pro-government Iranians have rallied in cities across the country for a fourth day in a show of support for the clerical leadership, while antigovernment protests reportedly continued in at least nine cities across the country, including the capital, Tehran.
Amid a backdrop of diplomatic maneuvering, state television showed footage of January 6 rallies that were held in cities including Amol, Semnan, and Shadegan, with government supporters waving Iranian flags and chanting "Death to America," "Death to Israel," and "Death to Britain."
More than a week of unrest has seen 22 people die and more than 1,700 arrested, according to reports, in the biggest antigovernment protests for nearly a decade.
Various Iranian officials said on January 6 that hundreds of detainees -- including many students and other young people -- had been released, some after agreeing to sign a pledge not to "re-offend," the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament has called a special session for January 7 to discuss the antigovernment protests in dozens of towns and cities that have rocked the country daily since December 28.
The session, which was called by a reformist faction of lawmakers, is to look at the causes of the unrest. it is due to begen at 9 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. Prague time).
ISNA said the interior minister, chief of Iran's intelligence agency, and security council head are scheduled to attend the closed-door parliament meeting.
Requests by reformists that protesters who have been jailed should have access to legal assistance is also due to be discussed.
The unrest continued in the capital at night on January 5-6, with social media footage showing gatherings in Tehran despite a large police presence.
RFE/RL’s Radio Farda also obtained credible reports on January 6 from sources in Iran about overnight demonstrations against Iran's clerical rulers in Takestan, Arak, Masjed Soleiman, Mashhad, Qazvin, Rasht, Lahijan, and Khomein, the birthplace of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic.
In a rebuke to Iranian government claims that the widespread demonstrations had been organized and/or instigated by foreigners, a group of 16 prominent reformist figures living in Iran issued a statement rejecting that claim.
Videos have appeared on social media in recent days appearing to show relatives of detainees gathering outside prisons seeking information about the fate of their loved ones.
This video purportedly shows people singing and staying warm outside Tehran's Evin prison late January 5.