An Iranian general acknowledged Monday that more than 300 people have been killed in unrest surrounding nationwide protests, giving the first official news on the casualties in two months.
That estimate is considerably lower than the figure reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based group that has been closely monitoring the protests since they erupted after the September 16 death of a young woman in police custody. country morale.
The activist group says 451 protesters and 60 members of the security forces have been killed since the start of the unrest and more than 18,000 people have been detained.
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The protests were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. They quickly became calls for the overthrow of Iran’s theocracy and pose one of the most serious challenges to the ruling clerics since the 1979 revolution that brought them to power.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division, was quoted by a website close to the Guard as saying that more than 300 people have been killed, including “martyrs”, an apparent reference to security forces. He also suggested that many of those killed were ordinary Iranians who did not participate in the protests.
He did not provide an exact figure or say where his estimate came from.
The authorities have heavily restricted media coverage of the protests. State-linked media have failed to report a total number of casualties and have largely focused on attacks on security forces, which officials blame on shadowy militant and separatist groups.
Hajizadeh reiterated the official claim that the protests have been fomented by Iran’s enemies, including Western countries and Saudi Arabia, without providing any evidence. The protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, and deny having any foreign agenda.
The protests have spread across the country and have drawn support from artists, athletes and other public figures. The unrest has even cast a shadow over the World Cup, with some Iranians actively supporting their own national team because they see it as linked to the government.
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Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, on November 26, 2022. Khamenei’s niece calls on citizens to pressure the government to cut ties with Tehran.
(Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)
The niece of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently called on people to pressure their governments to cut ties with Tehran over its violent crackdown on protests.
In a video posted online by her French-based brother, Farideh Moradkhani urged “conscious people of the world” to support the Iranian protesters. The video was shared online this week after Moradkhani’s arrest on November 23, according to the activist group.
Moradkhani is a longtime activist whose late father was an opposition figure married to Khamenei’s sister and is the closest member of the supreme leader’s family to be arrested. The branch of the family has opposed Khamenei for decades and Moradkhani has been jailed on previous occasions for her activism.
“I call on the conscientious people of the world to stand with us and ask their governments not to react with empty words and slogans, but with real actions and to stop any dealings with this regime,” he said in his video statement.
The protests, now in their third month, have continued despite a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces using live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas.
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Iran refuses to cooperate with a fact-finding mission that the UN Human Rights Council recently voted to establish.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not engage in any kind of cooperation with the political committee,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Monday.
In a separate development, Iran released a 76-year-old Iranian-Austrian citizen from prison for health reasons, the Austrian Press Agency reported.
The APA quoted the Austrian Foreign Ministry as confirming that Massud Mossaheb received indefinite medical leave. The ministry said “intense diplomatic efforts” had led to his release, which was first reported by the Austrian newspaper Die Presse. There was no immediate comment from Iran.
Mossaheb was arrested on suspicion of espionage in early 2019 during a visit to the capital Tehran and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison. He must remain in Iran and report to authorities every two weeks, APA reported.
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Iran has detained a number of dual nationals in recent years on charges of threatening national security. Analysts and human rights groups accuse hardliners in Iran’s security agencies of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips in negotiations or prisoner swaps with the West, which Tehran denies.
