During an open session of parliament on Nov. 6, 227 parliament members signed an open statement asking Iran’s judiciary to take “decisive” action against protestors.

The statement began by saying that enemies of Iran have tried for over 40 years to destroy the country through the arming of separatists, supporting Saddam Hussein, so-called crippling sanctions and supporting various protests, which the statement referred to as “seditions.” The statement continued that the United States has failed in its policies against Syria, Yemen and Iraq, and is now targeting Iran from the inside.

With respect to the current protests, which the statement referred to as “riots,” it claimed that the United States and other enemies of Iran have “openly entered the scene” and have now taken on the leadership financially as well as with arms and commandment. The statement added that they have encouraged “thugs” to attack security forces, leading to dozens of deaths.

The statement said that parliament members want the judiciary to quickly confront the protestors who attack the country like the Islamic State and asked that those who are guilty of protesting and destroying property be punished with equal consequences. Some have interpreted the statement to read that parliament is seeking the death penalty for all protestors because of the language used in the statement.