BAccording to official information, more people have been killed in protests in Iran in the past two days. According to the Iranian media and a local prosecutor, the number of dead has increased to eight. Among them are said to be a police officer and a member of a pro-government militia.
However, the Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw said ten demonstrators were killed by Iranian security forces, three of them on Wednesday. Iranian officials deny this. According to them, armed dissidents probably shot the demonstrators. The information provided by both sides could not be independently verified.
The protests are about the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in a hospital in Tehran on Friday. She had previously been arrested by the vice squad on charges of violating strict hijab regulations.
There had been speculation on social media that Amini had been beaten. Interior Minister Abdolresa Rahmani Fasli and the police rejected this account. Nevertheless, the authorities initiated investigations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his condolences and grief over the death of the young woman to Mahsa Amini’s family this week, according to a senior adviser.
Human rights group Hengaw and internet blocking observatory NetBlocks report authorities have blocked the internet. Access to Instagram, the only major social media platform Iran normally allows, has been restricted. “Iran is now subject to the strictest internet restrictions since the November 2019 massacre,” NetBlocks said. In 2019, 1,500 people were killed in protests against rising fuel prices.
