The Iranian Human Rights Organization (IHRNGO) says security forces have killed at least 45 protesters, including eight juveniles, during ongoing protests in Iran. At the same time, there was a large-scale outage of Internet connection in the Islamic Republic on Thursday, announced the organization Netblocks, which monitors cyber security and Internet administration. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- Security forces in Iran killed at least 45 protesters.
- There was a widespread internet outage in the country.
- During the protests, the police detained more than 2,000 people.
IHRNGO says hundreds of people have been injured and more than 2,000 have been detained by police in clashes between protesters and security forces.
Calls for UN intervention
The obtained evidence shows that the scope of repression is becoming more violent and extensive every day, therefore the UN and the international community should intervene within the framework of international law to prevent the mass killing of protesters, the organization IHRNGO said.
Iranian official media have so far reported 21 deaths during the protests. Among these victims are members of the security forces.
Internet restriction
During the latest protests, the Iranian authorities again restricted access to the Internet – e.g. in the province of Kermanshah in the west of the country and in other parts of the country, including some large cities.
DPA admitted that the internet shutdowns may be related to calls for protests addressed to the nation by the son of Iran’s last emperor, Reza Pahlavi.
The President calls for dialogue
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkiyan on Thursday called for “maximum restraint” in handling the 12-day-long protests, as well as for dialogue and listening to the people’s demands. “Violent behavior or coercion must be avoided,” he stressed.
The current wave of demonstrations, which broke out on December 28, was fueled by a sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency. The protests started with retailers in the capital Tehran, but later spread to other areas of the Islamic Republic.
The death of Mahsa Aminíová
AFP says these are the most serious demonstrations in Iran since nationwide protests in 2022-23 sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The authorities detained her for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.
