At least 304 people killed in clashes with security during Iran protests: Amnesty

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Amnesty International said on Monday that security forces had killed over 300 people during demonstrations in Iran.

In a new report, the rights group said that “at least 304 people were killed, and thousands injured” during three days between Nov. 15 to 18 “as authorities crushed the protests using lethal force.”

“The majority of the deaths that the organization has recorded occurred as a result of gunshots to the head, heart, neck, and other vital organs indicating that the security forces were shooting to kill,” it added.

Protests in Iran started on Nov. 15 after Tehran passed a new law on subsidized gasoline that tripled its price.

Demonstrations began calmly but quickly spread to dozens of other parts of the country, including multiple cities in Kurdish-majority western provinces.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has mobilized hundreds of thousands of its Basij paramilitaries and other security forces to crack down on protestors.

Earlier this month, Iran Human Rights Monitor said over 1,000 Iranian protestors were believed to be dead in clashes with security forces.

It also reported that over 12,000 people had been arrested, many after being wounded by gunfire, claiming that “protestors are under severe torture to make false confessions.”

Meanwhile, Kurdish rights watchdog Hengaw reported in November that there had been at least 48 deaths and 1,000 arrests in the provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, and West Azerbaijan. The group previously said that some wounded protesters had been avoiding hospitals for fear of capture.