The toll of repression in Iran is ever heavier. At least 537 people have been killed by Iranian security forces cracking down on protests that erupted in September, the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Tuesday. In a previous report, the NGO IHR reported 488 demonstrators killed in this repression.
This new report takes into account new confirmed deaths, according to the NGO based in Norway, which published a report marking the 200 days since the death of Mahsa Amini. The deadliest months were September (223 deaths), October (100 deaths) and November (173 deaths).
The majority of deaths in the poor region of a minority
For their part, the authorities say that hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the context of these demonstrations, which have diminished in size in recent weeks.
The majority of deaths recorded by the NGO – 134 – were recorded in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, a poor region in the south-east where the Baloch minority lives, adhering mainly to Sunni Islam and not to the dominant Shiism in Iran and where this minority regularly organized demonstrations. At least 69 deaths have been recorded in Tehran, 57 in the province of Kurdistan and 56 in that of Western Azerbaijan (north-west), two provinces where the Kurdish minority lives in particular, adds the NGO.