More than 200 people have died, including 23 minors, as part of the wave of protests launched in Iran over the death of young Mahsa Amini, who died nearly a month ago in police custody after being arrested for wearing the veil incorrectly.

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IRH) updated its tally Wednesday to 201 fatalities, spread across 18 provinces. In Sistan and Baluchistan alone, 93 people have died, while 28 others have died in Mazandaran.

In Iranian Kurdistan, IRH reports 14 deaths, although it has yet to determine “the extent of the repression” during the protests of recent days, especially in the city of Sanandaj. In this regard, it has denounced cuts in Internet service that complicate the obtaining of information.

The director of the NGO, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, has urged in a statement the international community to give an “immediate response” to “prevent more deaths in Kurdistan”.

Those arrested in the context of these protests also number in the hundreds and, although there are no clear figures, the authorities did report a few days ago that more than 1,800 people had been arrested. Human rights organizations estimate that the real figure is higher.

The judicial authorities reported on Wednesday the indictment of more than a hundred alleged “rioters”. According to the judiciary portal, Mizan, some 60 people have been charged in Tehran and another 65 in Hormozgan, although the details of the charges have not been disclosed.

Khamenei’s speech Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has again made a veiled reference to the latest protests, again pointing the finger at the great Western powers, especially the United States, as the alleged instigators of the demonstrations in which women are the main protagonists.

According to Khamenei, this is a “clumsy” response of foreign governments to the advances of the Islamic Republic, but he urged local authorities not to be distracted by what he considers “small incidents”.

He also called for a distinction to be made between the real masterminds of the protests, “elements of the enemy”, and the population who have been “provoked” to join in, according to a speech reported by the state television network.

Source » msn