In a statement on Monday, the ministry said Iranian security forces helped by people had managed to detain some of the elements who incited unrestin several cities across the country.
It added that efforts were ongoingto arrest other agents as soon as possible.
According to the ministry's statement, some of the peaceful gatherings held in recent days in order to expresspublic demands hadturned violent "due to the presence of suspicious and aggressive elements" who damaged public property and causedcasualties.
Since Thursday, groups of Iranian protesters have staged protests in several cities to voice their anger over rising prices and economic conditions. Sporadic violence has erupted during the protests, causing a number of deaths.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday the Iranian people would deal with a "small and minority group" of rioters and lawbreakers exploiting the protests.
PressTV-Iranians will deal with rioters, lawbreakers: Rouhani
The Iranian president says the people will deal with a small group of rioters and lawbreakers that try to exploit protests against economic conditions.
He emphasized that the enemies of Iran could not tolerate the country's achievements in the diplomatic arena, particularly in the confrontation with the US and the Israeli regime, and some of them had explicitly threatened that they would take regional problems into Tehran.
