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Protests in Iran in the past few days
Photo: AP
According to the local police chief, more than 700 people were arrested during protest demonstrations in northern Iran.
"We arrested and detained 739 rioters, including 60 women," said Gilan Province Police Chief Asisiollah Maleki on Saturday.
Numerous weapons, ammunition and explosives were also seized during the arrests, the police chief claimed, according to the state news agency IRNA.
According to Maleki, the arrested demonstrators are responsible for the injuries of more than 100 police officers and for damage to public facilities.
Threatening the security of Gilan province is a red line for local police, so they will crack down on the protests, the police chief said.
The nationwide protests were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini a week ago.
She had been arrested by the Morality Police for allegedly not wearing the Islamic headscarf in accordance with strict regulations.
In the meantime, there are said to have been demonstrations in 80 cities.
According to human rights activists, at least 50 people have been killed in the violent crackdown on the protests.
The organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) said that six people were shot dead by security forces on Thursday evening in Reswanshahr, also in the northern Iranian province of Gilan.
No information on fatalities
The authorities in Iran are currently not providing any new information about the number of people killed in the protests that have been going on for days.
There is still no precise information on the number of victims in the demonstrations of the past seven days, according to the Interior Ministry.
"There are different groups among the victims and therefore exact numbers will only be announced after the investigations," Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi said on Saturday, according to local media.
However, he confirmed that there were deaths among the demonstrators as well as among the police and security forces.
According to the minister, some people attempting to enter "high security facilities" were shot dead by security officers.
Iran last confirmed 17 to 20 dead two days ago.
Iran's state television broadcaster IRIB reported 35 dead but added that this number was unofficial and not yet confirmed.
Iranian interior minister: "hasty conclusions"
Iran's interior minister said the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was not caused by the police.
"The medical examinations and those of the forensic medicine show that there were neither beatings (by the police) nor a fractured skull," Minister Ahmad Wahidi said, according to the Irna news agency on Saturday.
The hasty conclusions in this case and the subsequent protests were therefore based on false interpretations, according to the minister.
Police claim Amini went into a coma and died from a heart defect.
But critics say she was beaten by the vice squad and died of a brain hemorrhage.
This version is vehemently disputed by the police, but led to violent protests across the country directed against the entire Islamic system and its regulations.
Amini's father vehemently criticized the coroner's report.
His daughter had no heart problems and therefore could not have died of heart failure.
sug/dpa
