Iran President Says Death in Custody of Mahsa Amini Must Be Investigated: The president of Iran has stated that the murder of a Kurdish woman in jail in Iran that sparked large protests must be “steadfastly” examined. He also lamented what he called the west’s “double standards” on human rights.
At a news conference outside the UN general assembly in New York, Ebrahim Raisi stated that Mahsa Amini’s death while in the morality police of Iran “must unquestionably be probed.”
“I contacted her family at the very first opportunity and assured them we would continue to investigate that incident … Our utmost preoccupation is safeguarding the rights of every citizen.”
He stated regarding Amini’s passing that the judiciary now had responsibility for what the authorities had done. He asserted that the original coroner’s inquiries into Amini’s death revealed she passed away from heart failure or a brain hemorrhage and not from a violent beating by the morality police.
But he said: “If her death were due to negligence, it would be investigated, and I promise to follow up on the issue regardless of whether the international forums take a stand or not.”
Protesters dispute the state’s findings by citing claims that officers struck Amini’s head with a baton and slammed her head on one of their vehicles. Rights organizations estimate that at least 36 people perished during the six days of protests that followed the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman on September 16.
To quell a rising protest movement, protestors set fire to police stations and vehicles on Thursday. Iran also cut off the internet in some areas of Tehran and Kurdistan and barred access to websites like Instagram and WhatsApp. Iranian ladies have chopped their hair and burned their headscarves on the internet and in the streets.
Amini was taken into custody for reportedly incorrectly donning a hijab. Activists said the woman, whose first name is Jhina in Kurdish, had taken a fatal hit to the head; authorities refuted this claim and indicated an investigation would be launched.
Although the police claim she passed away naturally, her family believes she was the victim of beatings and torture. About the six nights of protests following her death, Raisi, a former conservative head of the judiciary accused of sending hundreds to their deaths, said Iran would not tolerate “acts of disruption” but added that his nation accepted legitimate dissent.
The judiciary has instructed the courts to adopt a firm stance against demonstrators, alleging that the demonstrations are currently being organized by foreign agents and incited by anti-Iranian social media, a common charge the regime makes whenever unrest arises.
He sought to turn the tables on the country he was visiting by asking about police shootings in the US. “Did all these deaths get investigated?” he asked.
“Every day, in different countries, including the United States, we see men and women dying in police encounters, but there is no sensitivity about the cause and dealing with this violence,” he added.
The extent of Iran’s ongoing unrest, the worst in several years, is yet unknown as demonstrators in more than 12 cities continue to clash with security and paramilitary forces as they express their rage over social repression and the country’s escalating woes.
On Friday, the Iranian army issued the demonstrators its the sternest warning yet, stating that it would “confront the enemies” to maintain security. In his formal address to the general assembly on Wednesday, Raisi remarked that horrible things happened to people worldwide because of the government’s actions, making oblique references to the US and the UK.
He demanded that such deaths caused by the government be treated with the “same standard” worldwide. Raisi’s parallel mirrors an approach taken frequently by Iranian officials who, when accused of violating human rights, often point to western civilization and its “hegemony” and demand that those countries be held to the same standards.
Some Iranians are now openly advocating for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic due to the protests, which have become a direct challenge to the leadership. They were the biggest significant protests since 2019, when unrest broke out in response to a government increase in the price of fuel.
While not outright condemning the protests, Raisi said: “What is occurring, having demonstrations … of course these are normal and fully accepted … We must differentiate between demonstrators and vandalism. Demonstrations are good for expressing specific issues.”
On Thursday, the US imposed penalties on the heads of the morality police and other Iranian security organizations, claiming they “regularly deploy violence to crush peaceful protestors.” In the upcoming days, US officials planned to take additional action.
According to Amini’s cousin Erfan Mortezaei, who spoke to IranWire, the deceased woman’s family is still being pressured to publicly support the regime’s version of events, which claims that she died from complications following a historic brain surgery rather than from head injuries she sustained while being held.
Arkan, Mahsa’s 17-year-old nephew, was arrested over the weekend. Thursday morning, he was granted freedom on a 500m toman ($16,000) bond. The court informed the family that he had visited a local news organization’s offices intending to speak with them about his aunt.
“The goal of this pressure,” Erfan said, “is to obtain a forced statement from Mahsa’s family given stopping the nationwide protests.” Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic’s ministry of foreign affairs, wrote in a tweet without referring to the nationwide protests in Iran: “The real violators of human rights do not have the necessary moral competence to comment on human rights.”
Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, said the damage had been done to 43 buses, 54 bus terminals, and 23 fire engines as a measure of the severity of the riots. Although the initial emphasis was on women’s rights to not be harassed by the morality police or wear the hijab in public, there have been more prominent calls for freedom or the collapse of the state.
Iran’s president says Mahsa Amini death must be investigated | First Thing https://t.co/jeaElsF4ua
— The Guardian (@guardian) September 23, 2022
The protests lack organized leadership. Iranian officials have highlighted the anti-Iranian violence in the demonstrations to erode public support. US-based human rights organizations attempted to serve a writ on Raisi on behalf of former political prisoners, including Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Australia who was imprisoned for two years.
