At least three protesters were killed by Iranian security forces in Kurdistan on Saturday during protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a Norway-based human rights NGO said.
The Islamic Republic has been the scene of protests since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died three days after her arrest by vice police in Tehran.
Denouncing “riots” orchestrated by foreigners, the authorities embarked on a deadly crackdown and arrested more than 15,000 demonstrators, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) based in Oslo.
“Repressive government forces opened fire on protesters in the town of Divandarreh [nord-ouest]killing at least three civilians,” the Norwegian-based NGO Hengaw told AFP.
Demonstrations took place overnight in another town in Kurdistan, Boukan, where the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, fired on the family of a victim of repression.
stolen corpse
“Revolutionary Guard members attacked Shahid Gholi Pur hospital in Boukan, took Shahryar Mohammadi’s body and buried it in an undisclosed location,” Hengaw told AFP. “These forces opened fire on his family, injuring at least five people,” added the NGO.
In recent weeks, funerals of slain protesters have sparked new protests, often with anti-regime slogans.
In the province of West Azerbaijan, hundreds of people marched on Saturday near Mahabad, for the funeral of Kamal Ahmadpour, a young man killed by the police, according to a video broadcast by the online media 1500tasvir.
Iranian forces “have significantly increased their use of lethal weapons in their attacks on protesters over the past five days,” Hengaw noted.
The NGO points out that at least 25 people have died in Kurdistan since Tuesday. “Twenty-three people were killed by gunfire, one under torture and another by stab wounds,” she explains.
Iran’s state-run daily reported the death of 14 law enforcement officers in three days.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned the “rioters” on Saturday.
“Perpetrators of murder and destruction […] must be punished” by justice, he said in a speech in Isfahan (center).
“The enemy […] may seek to appeal to different groups in the population such as workers and women. It will not succeed,” he added.
At least 378 people were killed in the repression of demonstrations in Iran, according to a new report released on Saturday by the NGO IHR: 255 died during protests linked to the death of Mahsa Amini and 123 in Sistan-Baluchistan, including more than 90 on September 30 in the provincial capital Zahedan, during protests against the rape of a teenager attributed to a policeman.
The NGO specifies that the toll of children killed now stands at 47.
” Threat “
Iran on Saturday denounced the “silence” of the international community after recent deadly attacks described as “terrorist” acts by the government.
“The Iranian nation and the international community have witnessed in recent days the criminal acts of a group of terrorists […] in Izeh, Isfahan and Mashhad,” the foreign ministry said.
“The deliberate silence of foreigners, initiators of chaos and violence in Iran, in the face of terrorist operations […] has the consequence of encouraging terrorists and strengthening terrorism in the world,” he added.
On Wednesday, ten people were killed in two attacks in Izeh (southwest) and Isfahan, officials said.
The official Irna agency also reported on Saturday the arrest of five individuals accused of having killed an imam in Zahedan in early November.
Abroad, the head of British domestic intelligence warned on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic was seeking to “kidnap or kill” Britons whom it considers “enemies of the regime”.
London police response vehicles and armed officers were deployed in front of Iran International Persian-language television, two UK-based journalists of which faced threats from Iran, the report said. Saturday channel.