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Solidarity protests for the women of Iran in Washington
Photo: IMAGO/Allison Bailey / IMAGO/NurPhoto
More than two months after the death of the Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini, people in Iran are still taking to the streets for "Women, Life, Freedom".
Iran's Islamist regime is taking radical action against the protests.
For the first time, an Iranian general has spoken of many fatalities in connection with the ongoing system-critical protests in the country.
General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division, spoke of at least 300 dead in a speech, according to a video posted by the Tabnak online portal on Tuesday.
He also mentioned martyrs - meaning killed security forces and police officers.
The Revolutionary Guards are the elite unit of the armed forces in Iran and are more important than the traditional military.
Human rights organizations count more dead
"I don't know the current statistics, but I think that since this incident ... more than 300 martyrs and people have been killed in this country, including children," he added.
The number includes dozens of security forces killed in clashes with demonstrators, the Revolutionary Guard said.
So far, human rights activists in particular have documented the number of fatalities.
They are still significantly higher than those of the regime.
The US-based organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), for example, estimated at least 450 demonstrators dead as a result of the suppression of the protests, including 64 children.
In addition, 60 security forces are said to have died.
Amnesty International recently spoke of 440 deaths - and 15,000 arrests since the protests began.
Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the actual number of fatalities is even higher.
Activists accuse the Iranian security forces of secretly burying dead protesters to prevent their burial from sparking further anti-Iranian protests.
Iran has been protesting against the leadership in Tehran for more than two months.
The trigger was the death of Jina Mahsa Amini on September 16th.
Amini was arrested by the moral police because she is said to have worn her headscarf improperly.
Activists accuse the authorities of mistreating Amini.
Commander Hajizadeh once again blamed Iran's enemies for the protests.
In addition to the USA, he also named Germany and France.
In the past few weeks, the military and politicians have already shifted the blame to other countries.
Observers see this as an attempt to distract from the real causes of the protests.
muk/dpa/AFP
