State media acknowledged the increase in its official toll from the 17 dead — including five security officers — it had previously claimed, the Times of Israel reported.
But Oslo-based Iran Human Rights estimated that at least 50 dissidents have been killed in the ongoing protests, while Amnesty International denounced “a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters.”
The group said it had reviewed video footage proving that “on the night of 21 September alone, shootings by security forces left at least 19 people dead, including at least three children.” It is continuing to investigate reports of additional deaths.
Demonstrations have erupted across the country since Mahsa Amini, 22, died in state custody last week after being arrested by the feared Morality Police for letting her hair peek out from under her headscarf — violating the strict women’s dress code enforced by the regime’s harsh morality police.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
ICYMI: #Iran’s police in just one province have arrested over 700 people during more than a week of protests following the death of a young woman in custody, Tasnim news agency reports.#MahsaAmini https://t.co/d8Ry3U34gK
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 25, 2022
Pro-government rallies held in Iran amid mass protests
[An Nahar] Iranian counterprotesters gathered across the country on Friday in a show of support for authorities after nearly a week of anti-government protests and unrest over the death of a young woman who was being held by the morality police.A few thousand people attended a rally in the capital, Tehran, where they waved Iranian flags, and similar demonstrations were held in other cities. The government claimed the demonstrations of support were spontaneous. Similar rallies have been held during past periods of widespread protests.
The pro-government demonstrators chanted against America and Israel, according to state media, reflecting the official line that foreign countries are fomenting the latest unrest.
State TV, meanwhile, suggested the corpse count from this week's unrest could be as high as 26. Anti-government protesters and security forces have clashed in several major cities in the most severe political unrest since 2019, when rights groups say hundreds were killed amid demonstrations against a hike in state-controlled gasoline prices.
Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
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IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
has also disrupted internet access and tightened restrictions on popular platforms used to organize rallies like Instagram and WhatsApp.
A state TV anchor said late Thursday that 26 protesters and coppers had been killed since the protests erupted last Saturday after the funeral of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, without elaborating on how authorities reached that figure. He said official statistics would be released later, but during past periods of unrest authorities have not provided a full accounting of deaths and injuries.
A tally by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, based on statements from state-run and semiofficial media, shows that at least 11 people have been killed. Most recently, the deputy governor of Qazvin, Abolhasan Kabiri, said that a citizen and paramilitary officer had been killed in unrest that rocked two cities in the northwestern province.
The crisis unfolding in Iran began as a public outpouring of anger over the the death of Amini, a young woman who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf too loosely. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.