By Jubin Katiraie
The reflections of the crime that the Iranian authorities committed against the people’s uprising are quickly becoming obvious in the entire Iranian government.
Now, three weeks after the start of the Iran protests, because of the disclosure of the Iranian opposition, mainly the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK/PMOI), the regime has been forced to confess that its troops had shot and killed many unarmed protesters, who were demanding their rights.
But for the Iranian government, this is a very big challenge if they say the real number of the people killed by the Iranian forces, mostly the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), will intensify the protests.
Mohamad Javad Abtahi, a member of the Iranian parliament, said: “The failure to announce the death toll would be exploited by the MEK … The failure to announce the death toll would lead to the announcement of contradictory and sometimes exaggerated statistics … If Minister of Interior Rahmani Fazli will not announce the death toll, the Parliamentarians will call on Rahmani Fazli for an explanation.”
#IranProtests Day 21: Condemnation of the regime’s brutal crackdown on protests continues, Iranian resistance publishes new list of martyrs’ names#Iranhttps://t.co/kmu8wJLNRs
— People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) December 5, 2019
He added: “Some people were killed in the exchange of fire when rioters stormed government and military centers. Of course, there are innocents among those killed who must be separated from the rioters.”
It is recalled that Mahmoud Vaezi, the head of the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s office, came to the scene on 4 December demanding statistics from everyone.
“The information [of those killed] in the recent riots was not just about the government,” he said on 4 December, in an effort to reduce the responsibility of Rouhani’s government in the massacre and to lay blame on other apparatuses of the state for the massacre. He continued: “Everyone has been involved in [the crackdown] on this unrest and we will provide the information if it is complete.”
Vaezi did not respond to a question about why the number of the destroyed sites was announced but the death toll was not announced, adding: “Ask this question at the Judiciary Spokesperson meeting.”
Concerned about the revealing of this state-run crime, he called on the other factions to unite and said, “Friends must understand the conditions of the country because we have special circumstances and we are facing an external enemy.”
It is noteworthy that Gholamhossein Esmaeili, spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, fearing further consequences, described the death toll of recent protests in Iran as “utter falsehood”.
He called the actual death toll “below these numbers” without saying that how many people were killed, injured or arrested in recent Iranian protests.
#Iranian #Politicians Confess to the Serious Situation in Iran After the #Protests https://t.co/xnnGwc6pjo via @iranfocus #Iranfreedom #freeiran #MEK #Iran @USAdarFarsi pic.twitter.com/T4UQaTrirZ
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) December 5, 2019
According to independent sources in Mahshahr alone, between 40 to 100 protesters were killed in the suburb of ‘Kooreha’ region in one day, and the IRGC used machine guns and drones to kill the protesters.
According to the latest statistics obtained so far by the MEK on the mass killing by the Iranian government in these days, the number of killed people in the November protests is more than 1000, the number of injured is more than 4000 and the number of those arrested is more than 12000.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook said at a press conference that the Iranian regime has killed at least 1,000 protesters inside the country since mid-November. Previously, Amnesty International estimated over 200 had been killed. Only “handful of clerics” support the Iranian regime today, Hook said.
State Department’s special rep for Iran Brian Hook: Iranian regime has killed at least 1,000 protesters inside country since mid-November. Previously, Amnesty International estimated over 200 had been killed. Only “handful of clerics” support Iranian regime today, Hook says.
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) December 5, 2019
