An Iranian general has for the first time acknowledged that more than 300 people may have been killed in the ongoing countrywide protests.
In a speech, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Department of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), mentioned at least 300 dead, as seen in a video on the online portal Tabnak on Tuesday.
He also mentioned martyrs – meaning security forces and police officers who have been killed. The Revolutionary Guards are the elite unit of the armed forces in Iran and more important than the classical military.
"Everyone in the country has been affected by the death of this lady. I don't have the latest figures, but I think we have had perhaps more than 300 martyrs and people killed in this country, including children, since this incident," Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards' aerospace division, said in a video published by the Mehr news agency.
Until now, it has been mainly human rights activists documenting the casualties.
The latest official toll is much closer to the figure of at least 416 "killed in the suppression of protests in Iran" published by the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights.
The U.S.-based organization Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on the other hand, estimated that at least 450 demonstrators had been killed in the crackdown, including 64 children.
In addition, 60 security personnel were reported killed.
Commander Hajizadeh again blamed Iran's enemies for the protests. In addition to the United States, he named Germany and France.
In the past weeks, the military and politicians had already blamed foreign countries.
Observers see this as an attempt to divert attention from the real causes of the protests.
The mass protests against the system of the Islamic Republic were triggered by the death of an Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini in mid-September. She died in police custody after being arrested for violating Islamic dress codes.
