At least eight demonstrators have died as of this Wednesday in the protests of recent days in Iran, according to an official count by the authorities and another balance from a human rights group.
Public anger erupted when authorities announced the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini on Friday, following her arrest by the morality police, tasked with enforcing a strict dress code for women.
The protests began this Friday, in his home province, Kurdistan, whose governor, Ismail Zarei Koosha, said Tuesday that three people were killed, without specifying when. Like other authorities, he blamed the deaths on an enemy plot.
On Wednesday, Kurdistan Police Commander Ali Azadi announced the death of another person, according to the Iranian news agency. Tasnim. In addition, two other protesters were killed in Kermanshah province, said the district prosecutor, Shahram Karami, quoted by the Fars news agency. “Unfortunately, two people were killed in riots yesterday,” he said. “We are sure that this is the work of counterrevolutionary agents,” she added.
In addition to these deaths, the group for the defense of Kurdish rights Hengaw, based in Norway, indicated on Wednesday that two other protesters had died during the early hours in the province of West Azerbaijan. The victims, aged 16 and 23, died in the towns of Piranshahr, where major clashes took place, and in Urmia, according to Hengaw.
Another protester, a man, who had been injured in Divandareh in Kurdistan on September 17, died in a hospital, the group added. However, it is not known if it was the death reported shortly after by the police commander. Hengaw also reported that some 450 people had been injured and nearly 500 arrested, figures that could not be verified with an independent source.