TEHRAN
\nIranian security forces have killed at least 326 people in a crackdown on nationwide protests since Mahsa Amini\u2019s death in custody, Iran Human Rights said in an updated toll on Saturday.
\nThe Islamic republic has been gripped by protests that erupted over the death of Amini on September 16, three days after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country\u2019s strict dress code for women.
\nThe protests were fanned by fury over the dress rules for women, but have grown into a broad movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.
\n\u201cAt least 326 people, including 43 children and 25 women, have been killed by security forces in the ongoing nationwide protests,\u201d Oslo-based IHR said in a statement posted on its website.
\nThe latest toll represents an increase of 22 since the rights group issued its previous figures on November 5.
\nIt includes at least 123 people killed in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, on Iran\u2019s southeastern border with Pakistan, a figure which is also up, from 118 in IHR\u2019s last toll.
\nMost of those were killed on September 30 when security forces opened fire on protesters after Friday prayers in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan — a massacre activists have dubbed \u201cBloody Friday\u201d.
\nThose protests were triggered by the alleged rape in custody of a 15-year-old girl by a police commander in the province\u2019s port city of Chabahar.
\nAnalysts say the Baluchi were inspired by the protests that flared over Amini\u2019s death, which were initially driven by women\u2019s rights but expanded over time to include other grievances.
\nIHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam called on the international community to act as soon as possible to halt the crackdown.
\n\u201cEstablishing an international investigation and accountability mechanism by the UN will both facilitate the process of holding the perpetrators accountable in the future and increase the cost of the continuous repression by the Islamic republic,\u201d he said in the statement.
\nAnother rights group, Amnesty International, has also called for such a mechanism, which it said was supported by a petition signed by more than one million people.
\nIHR said it was still investigating reports of other deaths, meaning the actual number killed \u201cis certainly higher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEHRAN Iranian security forces have killed at least 326 people in a crackdown on nationwide protests since Mahsa Amini\u2019s death in custody, Iran Human Rights said in an updated toll on Saturday. The Islamic republic has been gripped by protests that erupted over the death of Amini on September 16, three days after her arrest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-295033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n