Death in custody of Iranian woman that sparked widespread protests must be ‘resolutely investigated’, Iran’s president says, though he lamented what he called a ‘double standard’ Western human rights issue.
Ebrahim Raisi told a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police “must certainly be the subject of investigation”.
“I contacted his family at the very earliest opportunity and assured them that we would resolutely continue to investigate this incident…Our utmost concern is safeguarding the rights of every citizen.”
On Amini’s death, he said the authorities were doing what they had to do and the responsibility now lay with the judiciary.
Rights groups fear at least 31 people have died in six days of protests, sparked by the September 16 death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman.
On Thursday, protesters torched police stations and vehicles in several cities, and Iran shut down the internet in parts of Tehran and Kurdistan, and blocked access to platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp, in the aimed at curbing a growing protest movement.
Iranian women have taken to the streets and the internet to burn their headscarves and cut their hair.
Amini was arrested for allegedly wearing a hijab in an “inappropriate” manner. Activists said the woman, whose Kurdish first name is Jhina, had been fatally hit in the head, a claim denied by officials, who announced an investigation. Police continue to claim she died of natural causes, but her family suspects she was beaten and tortured.
On Thursday, Raisi sought to turn the tables on the country he was visiting by asking about police shootings in the United States. “Have all these deaths been investigated? he said.
The scale of Iran’s ongoing unrest, the worst in several years, still remains unclear as protesters in more than a dozen cities – expressing anger at the country’s social repression and growing crises – continue to clash security and paramilitary forces.
Raisi, who formally addressed the general assembly on Wednesday, said bad things had happened everywhere at the hands of the authorities, making vague references to the United States and the United Kingdom. He called for the “same standard” around the world to deal with such deaths at the hands of authorities.
Raisi’s comparison reflects a common approach by Iranian leaders, who, when faced with accusations of rights abuses, often point to Western society and its “hegemony” and demand that those nations be held accountable as well.
Raisi, who ran the country’s justice system before becoming president, said the investigation into Amini’s death ultimately ended there.
The protests have become an open challenge to the government, with some Iranians calling for the fall of the Islamic Republic itself. These are the most serious protests since 2019, when protests erupted over a government hike in petrol prices.
Without outright condemning the protests, Raisi said: “What is happening, having protests…of course it is normal and fully accepted…We have to differentiate between protesters and vandalism. Demonstrations are good for expressing specific problems.
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on morality police and leaders of other Iranian security agencies, saying they “regularly use violence to suppress peaceful protesters.”
With Associated Press