Authorities have confirmed for the first time that more than 3,000 people have died during anti-government protests in recent weeks. However, the Government insists that these deaths are not due to the actions of the security forces, but rather to what it defines aso “terrorist incidents”.
According to the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation, a state agency, the total number of deaths amounts to 3,117 people. Of them, 2,427 would be civilians and members of the security forces. However, the Iranian Executive has not offered details about the identity of the nearly 700 remaining victims.
This is the first official death toll that the Government recognizes since the demonstrations began. Even so, human rights organizations raise the figure and assure that there are already more than 4,500 confirmed deaths. In addition, they are investigating another possible 9,000 deaths, in a context marked by the telecommunications blackout imposed by the authorities.
The protests, which have provoked a strong international reaction, continue to generate conflicting versions between independent observers about what happened in the streets of the country.
BBC obtains photos of bloodied faces of Iran protest victims
Hundreds of photos revealing the faces of people killed during the violent repression of recent anti-government protests in Iran have been leaked to the BBC, which claims this Wednesday that the images show bloody faces of at least 326 victims, including 18 women.
The snapshots, filtered to BBC Verifyshow that the fatal victims, displayed in a morgue in the south of Tehran, have swollen and bruised faces.
The images have allowed many families to identify their loved ones who died in the recent protests in Iran, adds the British corporation, which points out that the snapshots are too graphic to be shown without blurring.
