TEHERAN -- Iranian police have arrested four people in the northern province of Qazvin for allegedly plotting attacks on government and military facilities, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

The suspects were accused of seeking to exploit recent protests to undermine security in one of the cities in Qazvin, the province's police commander Mohammad-Qassem Tarhani was quoted by Fars as saying. He said the arrests were carried out by provincial police intelligence units in cooperation with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, without specifying when the detentions took place.

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He added that all the detainees had previously been arrested during the 2022 "riots" in Iran, and said they confessed to plotting attacks on government and military facilities to undermine public security.

Protests have erupted in several Iranian cities since late December over the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial and poor economic conditions. Authorities have said they are ready to address economic grievances while warning against violence, vandalism and unrest.