“We were under the influence of Voice of America Persia and the BBC,” declared one woman, dressed in a black overcoat and headscarf, who said she joined in street violence that erupted during massive opposition protests over the disputed presidential vote.

“The entire atmosphere was created by the BBC. My son had a grenade in his bag as he wanted to appear stronger than others,” said the woman, whose face was blurred by the television.

“I took to the streets and saw it was people like us who were torching public properties. There were no police around. It was only us setting cars on fire.”

A long-haired young man also acknowledged indulging in violence, and said he had been arrested in a shopping district in the capital known for selling mobile phones.

“I took advantage of the situation and me and my brother looted shops and robbed people,” he told the state television reporter.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday directly accused the two global broadcasters of working for Israel and seeking to break up the Islamic republic with their coverage of the post-election unrest.

Their aim, said foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi, is to weaken the national solidarity, threaten territoral integrity and disintegrate Iran.”

Another alleged rioter shown by the state television, an elderly man in a light-green shirt, said: “I think I was under the influence of VOA.”

Another youngster in a red shirt said he was provoked by “mask-wearing” men.

“I was provoked by their obscene words. They were telling us ‘you are fighting Israelis’,” he said.

State television has shown brief images of protests, but more footage of what it says is rioting on the streets of Tehran, including the torching of a mosque on Saturday and the beating of a member of the Islamic militia.

It has regularly shown interviews of men and women calling for an end to the violence and complaining about how it is affecting their daily lives.