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Rabat – An Iranian state security body said the death toll for the Mahsa Amini protests has now reached 200, with President Ebrahim Raisi hailing the country’s rights and freedoms.
The death toll of 200 included security forces, Reuters reported, a figure that is lower than the 300 figure that was recently reported by the United Nations.
The protests began on September 16, following reports that Iran’s “morality police” tortured 22 year-old Mahsa Amini for not wearing her hijab properly, resulting in her death.
Iranian women took to the streets across the country, in one of the biggest challenges to the country’s religious leadership since they came into power in the country’s 1979 revolution.
Despite crackdown attempts by law enforcement, protestors have not been phased, with some of the most enduring images from the movement coming when women marched without hijabs and cut their hair in protests.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government accused its enemies in the US and Israel of being behind the revolt. Protestors also reported several internet shutdowns since they took to the streets.
On Tuesday, a UN-appointed expert said Iranian police had killed more than 300 people while trying to control the protests. Rights group HRANA put the number at 469, and said that 18,210 have been arrested.
The protests have gained international support, especially among other women in the Middle East. Recently, Iran’s national football team expressed support for the protestors at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
