Iran accuses Israel, West of planning civil war to 'destruct, disintegrate' country

Iran on Thursday accused its-arch foe Israel and Western intelligence services of plotting to start a civil war in Iran gripped by some of the biggest anti-government protests since the 1979 revolution.

"Various security services, Israel and some Western politicians who have made plans for civil war, destruction and the disintegration of Iran, should know that Iran is not Libya or Sudan," Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted.

Tehran accuses Western adversaries of stoking nationwide unrest ignited by the Sept. 16 death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. She died while in custody after morality police arrested her for allegedly flouting the country's dress code.

Iran was hit by a spate of attacks on Wednesday.

Seven people were killed in the southwestern city of Izeh in what state media presented as a "terrorist attack".

In separate violence, gunmen riding a motorcycle shot several members of the security forces in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, killing two people and injuring 8 according to state TV.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which state television blamed on "rioters".

Amini's death and the protests that followed drew international condemnation against Iran, which has struggled to suppress the unrest and has blamed foreign enemies and their local agents.

France and Britain accused Iran of threatening their nationals on Wednesday after the Islamic Republic said French intelligence agents had been arrested during anti-government protests.

(Reuters)