Iran rejects the UN Human Rights Council resolution investigating violence and protests in the country. Meanwhile, more than 400 people are said to have died.
The leadership in Tehran has been harshly critical of the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation into the violence in Iran. The Foreign Ministry in Tehran said Iran “strongly rejects” the decision. The Revolutionary Guards increased their presence in Kurdish areas on Friday.
Meanwhile, according to activists, there were dozens of dead and wounded during the protests in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier demanded that those responsible for the violence be held accountable.
UN investigates violence
On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council decided to conduct an independent investigation into the authorities’ violent crackdown on demonstrators in Iran. 25 of the 47 member states voted in favor of a resolution presented by Germany and Iceland at the Council’s special session in Geneva.
Now an independent international investigative mission is to document human rights violations in Iran and gather evidence for possible criminal prosecution of those responsible. But the chances of traveling to Iran are very slim.
Revolutionary Guards increase their presence in Kurdish areas
Iran has said it will not recognize an international commission of inquiry. A national investigative commission had been set up, which included legal experts and “independent representatives”, the State Department announced on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards increased their presence in the Kurdish regions. According to the Tasnim news agency, General Mohammed Pakpur said special forces with armored vehicles were on their way to the Iraqi border areas in the west and northwest of the country. The aim is to prevent the entry of “terrorists” from neighboring Iraq.
Human rights organizations: At least 416 people died
Iran has been protesting the leadership in Tehran for more than two months. The trigger was the death of young Kurdish Mahsa Amini on September 16. Amini was arrested by the morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab inappropriately. He died in hospital a short time later. Activists accuse authorities of mistreating Amini.
According to human rights organizations, at least 416 people were killed in the government’s brutal crackdown on the protests. According to the London-based human rights organization Baloch Activists Campaign (BAC), protests in the southeast of the country again resulted in “dozens dead and injured”.
Iran: People take to the streets again
Security forces opened fire on demonstrators after Friday prayers in Sahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province. People also took to the streets in the cities of Iranshar, Khasch and Sarawan. According to the human rights organization Human Rights of Iran (IHR), the Revolutionary Guards used machine guns to suppress the protests.
Demonstrators in Sahidan chanted “Kurdistan, Kurdistan, we support you” and “Kurds and Balochists are brothers thirsting for the leader’s blood,” as the videos show. Sahedan is one of the few mostly Sunni cities in a predominantly Shia Iran.
Activists had previously called for nationwide solidarity rallies with Kurdistan. Especially since the protests began in Kurdistan province in the northwest of the country and Sistan-Baluchistan in the southeast, there have been a particularly large number of victims. According to the IHR, there were at least 126 dead in Sistan-Baluchistan and 48 in Kurdistan.
Source: ZDF
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