More than 200 dead in Iran due to the repression of protests, according to an NGO

Khamenei calls not to be distracted by "minor incidents" that he attributes to the United States

MADRID, 12 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

More than 200 people have died, including 23 minors, in the framework of the wave of protests that began in Iran over the death of the young Mahsa Amini, who died almost a month ago in police custody after being arrested for mishandling the veil.

The NGO Iran Human Rights (IRH), based in Norway, has updated its count on Wednesday to account for 201 fatalities, spread over 18 provinces. In Sistan and Baluchistan alone, 93 people have died, while in Mazandaran another 28 have died.

In Iranian Kurdistan, IRH reports 14 deaths, although it has yet to determine "the magnitude of the repression" during the protests of recent days, especially in the city of Sanandaj. In this sense, he has denounced cuts in the Internet service that complicate obtaining information.

The director of the NGO, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, has urged the international community in a statement to give an "immediate response" to "prevent more deaths in Kurdistan."

Those detained in the framework of these protests also number in the hundreds and, although there are no clear figures, the authorities did report a few days ago that more than 1,800 people had been arrested. Human rights organizations estimate that the real figure is higher.

The judicial authorities have informed this Wednesday of the accusation of more than a hundred alleged "troublemakers". According to the portal of the judicial system, Mizan, some 60 people have been charged in Tehran and another 65 in Hormozgán, although the details of the charges have not been disclosed.

The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has once again made a veiled reference to the latest protests, to once again point to the great Western powers, especially the United States, as alleged instigators of mobilizations whose main protagonists are women.

According to Khamenei, this is a "clumsy" response by foreign governments to the advances of the Islamic Republic, but he has urged local authorities not to be distracted by what he considers "small incidents".

Likewise, he has called to distinguish between the true brains of the protests, "elements of the enemy", and the population that would have been "provoked" to join, according to a speech picked up by the state television network.