Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the Iranian people had defeated a conspiracy, referring to unrest triggered by a rise in fuel prices.

"A deep, vast and very dangerous conspiracy that a lot of money had been spent on ... was destroyed by the people," Khamenei said, in a comment cited by his official website.

The speech came after the near-end of the massive protest that has lasted almost two weeks triggered by the government announcement of the hike of the oil prices. At the same time, people across cities in Iran started to come out to street on Monday, blaming the United States' influence in turning the previous protest political.

In previous remarks, Khamenei and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani have both attributed the large scale anti-government protest that has affected Iran's economic and political wellbeing to the clear interference of the United States in Iran's internal affairs.

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Why did the protests erupt in Iran?

After the beginning of the unrest following the oil price announcement, the situation soon turned violent and saw protesters attack police stations, torch petrol pumps and loot shops, before being quashed within a few days. Iranian officials have confirmed that five people were killed and so far announced about 500 arrests, including of some 180 "ringleaders". According to Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, approximately 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched during the disruption.

The oil price hike that directly caused the fuel protest was a result of the shrinking budget of the Iran government. Iran was hit by the economic sanctions posed by the United States after it unilaterally pulled out of a deal that shields Iran from economic sanctions in exchange for its halt on nuclear programs.  

According to the report from International Monetary Fund (IMF) released last month, Iran's economy is expected to contract by 9.5 percent by the end of the year.

(With input from Reuters, AFP)