A number of Iranian officials have claimed that there is a conspiracy behind the serial acid attacks on women that shocked the city of Esfahan and horrified citizens, leading to mass protests and eventually the detention of several journalists.

“The acid attacks in Esfahan are a game and a conspiracy,” said Ayatollah Naser Makaram Shirazi. He said that Iran’s enemies wanted to “deviate [public] thought into another direction” after parliament presented a bill to offer legal protection to "vice" groups that take it upon themselves to enact the Islamic teaching of “enjoining good and forbidding wrong.”

These groups, usually affiliated with Ansar-e Hezbollah or the Basij Organization, have at times become entangled in physical confrontations after confronting a couple or a woman they feel is loosely abiding the country’s veiling laws. In order to avoid these confrontations, the parliament proposed legalizing their activities.

Former Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi made similar statements, saying, “Unfortunately, when the law for 'enjoining good and forbidding wrong' was taken to parliament, we witnessed an event such as acid attacks and with precision, it came out in the media of the enemy.”