Iran Rejects The UN Plan For Violence Against Anti-Government Protests

JAKARTA - Iran will reject a newly appointed UN independent investigation into violence against anti-government protesters, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, as demonstrations show no sign of easing.

"Iran will not cooperate with the political committee set up by the UN Human Rights Council," ministry spokesman Nasser Bahi said.

The UN Board of Rights voted on Thursday last week to appoint an investigation into Iran's deadly acts against protests.

Volker Turk, UN human rights commissioner, previously demanded that Iran end its disproportionate use of force in quelling protests that erupted after the death of Kurdi woman Mahsa Amini (22) on September 16.

The HRANA activist news agency said, as of November 26, about 450 protesters had been killed in more than two months of national unrest, including 63 minors.

In addition, it said 60 members of the security forces had been killed with 18,173 protesters detained.

Against the legitimacy of the Tehran government, protesters from all walks of life have burned photos of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and called for the fall of Iran's Shiite theocracy.

The protests primarily focused on women's rights, Amini was detained by morality police because of clothes deemed inappropriate under Iran's strict dress code, but also called for Khamenei's fall.

Riots have been one of the boldest challenges for Iran's ruling elite since coming to power after the 1979 revolution, although authorities have hit a round of previous major protests.

Iran blames foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest. Tehran has evidence that Western countries were involved in the protests that hit the country, Amnesia said Monday.

"We have specific information that proves that the US, Western countries and some of America's allies played a role in the protests," he said, without providing details.

Iran did not mention the death toll for protesters, but Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said about 50 policemen were killed and hundreds injured in the riots - the first official figure for death among security forces.

He did not say whether that figure also included deaths among other security forces such as the Revolutionary Guard.