Since Mahsa Amini's death in custody, Iranian security forces have cracked down on widespread rallies, killing at least 326 people, according to an updated death toll released by Iran Human Rights (IHR) on Saturday.
Protests that broke out in response to Amini's death on September 16, three days after her detention for allegedly violating the country's stringent dress code for women, have gripped the Islamic republic. Fury over the dressing rules for women sparked the protests, which have subsequently expanded into a larger movement opposing the theocracy that has governed Iran since the revolution of 1979.
“At least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, have been killed by security forces in the ongoing nationwide protests,” Oslo-based IHR said in a statement posted on its website.
The latest toll represents an increase of 22 since the rights group issued its previous figures on November 5.
It includes at least 123 people killed in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, on Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan, a figure which is also up, from 118 in IHR’s last toll.
Most of those were killed on September 30 when security forces opened fire on protesters after Friday prayers in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan — massacre activists have dubbed “Bloody Friday.” Those protests were triggered by the alleged rape in the custody of a 15-year-old girl by a police commander in the province’s port city of Chabahar.
Protests that broke out in response to Amini's death on September 16, three days after her detention for allegedly violating the country's stringent dress code for women, have gripped the Islamic republic. Fury over the dressing rules for women sparked the protests, which have subsequently expanded into a larger movement opposing the theocracy that has governed Iran since the revolution of 1979.
“At least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, have been killed by security forces in the ongoing nationwide protests,” Oslo-based IHR said in a statement posted on its website.
The latest toll represents an increase of 22 since the rights group issued its previous figures on November 5.
It includes at least 123 people killed in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, on Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan, a figure which is also up, from 118 in IHR’s last toll.
Most of those were killed on September 30 when security forces opened fire on protesters after Friday prayers in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan — massacre activists have dubbed “Bloody Friday.” Those protests were triggered by the alleged rape in the custody of a 15-year-old girl by a police commander in the province’s port city of Chabahar.
