Iranian politicians chanted “thank you, police” during a parliamentary session, in a show of support for a crackdown on widespread anti-government protests against the death of a young woman in police custody.
The protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini from Iranian Kurdistan, have spiralled into the biggest show of opposition to Iran’s authorities in years, with many calling for the end of more than four decades of Islamic clerical rule.
Pledging allegiance to the Islamic Republic’s top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the MPs chanted: “The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader”, a video shared on Iranian state media showed.
Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based group, in a statement said that “so far 133 people had been killed across Iran”, including more than 40 people it said were killed in clashes last week in Zahedan, capital of the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.
Iranian authorities have not given a death toll, while saying many members of the security forces have been killed by “rioters and thugs backed by foreign foes”. Last week state television said 41 had died, including members of the security forces.
Khamenei has not commented on the nationwide protests, which began at Amini’s funeral on September 17 and quickly spread to Iran’s 31 provinces, with all layers of society, including ethnic and religious minorities, taking part.
Read the article by Parisa Hafezi in the Port Lincoln Times.