The authorities of Iran have put figures this Tuesday for the first time to the brutal repression of the protests that have put the regime in check: some 2.000 personasincluding members of the security forces, have died in the demonstrations that since last December 28 have taken thousands of people to the streets to cry out against the economic crisis and to demand political change, as explained by an official source to the Reuters agency who has asked to remain anonymous.
The protests, which started when electronics merchants in the bazaar of Tabriz, in western Iran, decided to close their stores and protest against the enormous depreciation of the rialthe Iranian currency, which lost more than half of its value last year, has experienced a resurgence since last Thursday, with mobilizations in almost every corner of the country and acts of vandalism against public organizations, banks and mosques. In response, the Government ordered the deployment of the Revolutionary Guard and the Army, which have harshly repressed the demonstrations. Furthermore, a communication blockingboth of internet as of the telephone network traditional.
The concentrations reached their peak on Thursday and Friday, and began to decline on Saturday, reports Efe. On Monday, in contrast, thousands of regime sympathizers took to the streets to show their support for the authorities.
As a result of the blockade, the reported death toll was much lower. The only ones that had taken stock so far were Iranian human rights organizations located abroad. The NGO Iran Human Rights raised the number of dead protesters to 648 on Monday and warned that some of the almost 10,000 detainees are in danger of being executed by the authorities.
End to “horror”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed this Tuesday his “horror” at the violence carried out by the Iranian security forces and has urged the regime to end the repression and restore full access to the internet and telecommunications services, in addition to demanding those responsible for the repression be held accountable.
“This cycle of atrocious violence cannot continue, the Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard,” Türk added.
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