Iranian Rights Group Says 185 People Killed During Protests Over Mahsa Amini's Death, Including 19 Children

The protests against Mahsa Amini's death in Iran. (Wikimedia Commons/Darafsh)

JAKARTA - Protests sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody continued across Iran on Sunday against a crackdown by the authorities, as a human rights group said at least 185 people, including children, had died in demonstrations.

The anti-government protests, which began on September 17 at the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the Kurdish city of Saqez, have turned into the biggest challenge to Iran's clerical leaders in years, with protesters calling for the Supreme Leader's downfall. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"At least 185 people, including at least 19 children, were killed in nationwide protests across Iran. The highest number of killings occurred in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan with half of the recorded number," the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said Saturday. reported Reuters 10 October.

Videos shared on social media showed protests in dozens of Iranian cities on Sunday morning, with hundreds of high school and college students participating despite the use of tear gas, clubs and in many cases live ammunition by security forces, rights groups say.

A video posted on Twitter by the widely followed 1500tasvir activist shows security forces armed with batons attacking students at a high school in Tehran.

A video shared by the Twitter account Mamlekate, which has more than 150,000 followers, shows security forces chasing dozens of school girls in Bandar Abbas City. Social media posts said shops were closed in several cities after activists called for a mass strike.

Meanwhile, authorities have described the protests as a plot by Iran's enemies, including the United States. They accuse armed dissidents of, among other things, violence that has reportedly killed at least 20 members of the security forces.

In addition, the Iranian authorities have denied that they used live ammunition against protesters.

Meanwhile, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the deputy interior minister's warning about severe punishment for those called rioters.

Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13 for wearing "inappropriate clothing". He died three days later in a Tehran hospital.

The state coroner's report said Amini had died from a pre-existing medical condition.

Meanwhile, his father has held police accountable for his death, with the family's lawyer saying "honorable doctors" believe he was beaten while in custody.

Separately, the United States and Canada have imposed sanctions on Iranian authorities. The European Union is considering imposing an asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian officials.

"Those who beat (Iranian) women and girls in the street, who kidnap, arbitrarily imprison and execute people who want nothing more than to live free, they are standing on the wrong side of history," the foreign minister said. Germany's Annalena Baerbock, according to the newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Sunday.