The IRGC and Intelligence Ministry say the United States tried “to attribute the effect of sanctions on people’s lives to the inefficiency of the Islamic Republic through making false demands in cultural and social fields.” The statement further claims that in the past years, US and Israeli intelligence services have made extensive efforts to “transfer money and arm criminals with weapons to enable them to carry out sabotage operations against important centers and facilities, and use violence against the civilians, police forces and the Basij [militia].”
