DUBAI
\nIran will reject a newly-appointed independent U.N. investigation into the country\u2019s repression of anti-government protests, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as demonstrations showed no sign of abating. \u201cIran will have no cooperation with the political committee formed by the U.N. Rights Council,\u201d ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.
\nThe U.N. Rights Council voted on Thursday to appoint a probe into Iran\u2019s deadly crackdown on protests.
\nVolker Turk, the U.N. rights commissioner, had earlier demanded that Iran end its \u201cdisproportionate\u201d use of force in quashing protests that erupted after the death in custody of 22-year old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16.
\nActivist news agency HRANA said 450 protesters had been killed in more than two months of nationwide unrest as of Nov. 26, including 63 minors. It said 60 members of the security forces had been killed, and 18,173 protesters detained.
\nChallenging the Islamic Republic\u2019s legitimacy, protesters from all walks of life have burned pictures of Khamenei and called for the downfall of Iran\u2019s Shi\u2019ite Muslim theocracy.
\nThe protests have particularly focused on women\u2019s rights – Amini was detained by morality police for attire deemed inappropriate under Iran\u2019s Islamic dress code – but have also called for the fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
\nThe unrest has posed one of the boldest challenges to Iran\u2019s clerical ruling elite since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution, though authorities have crushed previous rounds of major protests.
\nIran has blamed foreign foes and their agents for the unrest.
\nIran has proof that Western nations were involved in protests that have swept the country, Kanaani said on Monday.
\n\u201cWe have specific information proving that the U.S., Western countries and some of the American allies have had a role in the protests,\u201d he said, without giving details.
\nIran has given no death toll for protesters, but a deputy foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, has said that about 50 police had died and hundreds been injured in the unrest – the first official figure for deaths among security forces.
\nHe did not say whether that figure also included deaths among other security forces such as the Revolutionary Guards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI Iran will reject a newly-appointed independent U.N. investigation into the country\u2019s repression of anti-government protests, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as demonstrations showed no sign of abating. \u201cIran will have no cooperation with the political committee formed by the U.N. Rights Council,\u201d ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. The U.N. Rights Council voted on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-298056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n