An Iranian general acknowledged on Tuesday the death of more than 300 people during the protests taking place throughout the country in defense of human rights, being the first official statements on the number of victims in two months.
This estimate is considerably lower than the figure reported by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Iran Human Rights, a US-based group that has closely followed the protests since they erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. , in the custody of the so-called moral police in Tehran for allegedly violating the strict dress code imposed on women in the Islamic Republic.
The activist group says 451 protesters and 60 members of the security forces have been killed since the unrest began and more than 18,000 people have been detained.
Protests across the country were sparked by the death of this young woman, but quickly turned into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic theocracy that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the aerospace division of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s paramilitary body, told a website close to this internal security force that more than 300 people were killed, including “martyrs”, in an apparent Reference to the security forces.
The same source also suggested that many of those killed were ordinary Iranians who did not take part in the protests.
Hajizadeh did not provide an exact number or reveal what data supported his estimate.
This commander reiterated the official claim that the protests were fomented by Iran’s enemies, including Western countries and Saudi Arabia, without providing any evidence.
However, the protesters say they are fed up with decades of social and political repression and deny having a foreign agenda.
The protests spread across the country and drew support from artists, athletes and other public figures.
The niece of Iran’s Supreme Leader ‘Ayatollah’ Ali Khamenei recently urged people to pressure their governments to cut ties with Tehran over the violent crackdown on protests.
In a video posted online by her brother who lives in France, Farideh Moradkhani urged “conscious people of the world” to support the Iranian protesters.
The video was shared this week, following Moradkhani’s alleged arrest on November 23, according to the activist group.
The protests, now in their third month, faced a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces who used live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas to quell the demonstrations.
The Government of Iran announced today that it will not cooperate with the independent United Nations mission that is preparing to investigate violations against fundamental freedoms in the country following the death of the young Mahsa Amini.
“Iran will not cooperate in any way with the mission on alleged human rights issues,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Naser Kanani told a news conference.
“Tehran condemns the impulsive use of human rights issues against independent nations,” the Iranian diplomatic spokesman stressed.
The resolution establishes the creation of an independent investigative mission that will have the objective of “collecting and analyzing evidence” of human rights violations after the repression.
Source: TSF
