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NGO: At least 50 people killed in Iran protest crackdown
An NGO said on Friday (Sep 23) that at least 50 people have been killed in a crackdown by the Iranian security forces on protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police.
The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said the rise in the toll came after six people were killed by fire from the security forces in the town of Rezvanshahr in the northern Gilan province Thursday night (Sep 22). Other deaths were recorded in Babol and Amol, also in northern Iran.
There had been protests in some 80 cities and other urban centres since the demonstrations started one week ago, it added.
Rights groups have also pointed to deaths in the northern Kurdistan region where Amini was from.
The crisis unfolding in Iran began as a public outpouring of anger over the death of Amini, a young woman who was arrested by the morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf too loosely.
The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.
Amini’s death has sparked sharp condemnation from Western countries and the United Nations and touched a national nerve.
Woman in Italy cuts hair off in protest over Mahsa Amini’s death after hijab arrest
"The international community must stand by the Iranian people against one of our time's most repressive regimes," IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told AFP.
The official death toll from the clashes issued by the Iranian authorities remains at least 17, including five security personnel.
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