At least 50 people were killed in Iranian security forces’ crackdown on protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by the Iranian police for not wearing the veil properlysaid an NGO on Friday.
However, state television IRIB reported the death of 26 people in clashes with the authorities.
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According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), an organization based in Oslo, the upward balance is explained by the death of six people shot by security forces in the city of Rezvanshahr, in the province of Gilan (north) on Thursdayas well as other fatalities in Babol and Amol, also in the north.
Demonstrations have been reported in some 80 cities and other urban centers since the protests began a week ago, the organization said.
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Human rights groups also denounced that in the Kurdistan region, in the north of Iran – where Amini was from – there were also deaths.
“At least 50 people have died so far, and people continue to protest for their fundamental rights and dignity“, the director of the NGO, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, told AFP.
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“The international community must support the Iranian people against one of the most repressive regimes of our time,” he added.
The official balance of the disturbances provided by the Iranian authorities shows at least 17 dead, five of whom members of the security forces.
The US authorizes the expansion of Internet service
The United States on Friday authorized technology companies to expand their services in Iran, in response to internet cuts ordered by Tehran to stop protests against violence against women and the mandatory veil.
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“With this measure, we will help the Iranian people not to be isolated in the dark. It is a step to meaningfully support the Iranians who demand that their fundamental rights be respectedSecretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The international community must stand with the Iranian people against one of the most repressive regimes of our time.
Specifically, the United States Department of the Treasury, which maintains strong sanctions against Iran, issued a general license with which “technology companies will be able to provide more digital services to Iranians, from access to the cloud to tools to improve their security and online privacy.
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The leader of US diplomacy stressed that the Iranian authorities cut off Internet access for most of its 80 million citizens to “prevent them and the world from seeing their violent repression against peaceful demonstrations.”
“It is clear that the Iranian government is afraid of its own people,” said Blinken, who assured that this Friday’s general license “will expand the free flow of information” in the country.
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In a subsequent telephone press conference, a high-ranking official from the US Administration explained that the expansion of services to the cloud will facilitate access to VPN networks, which allow circumventing internet censorship and blockades.
Restrictions on communication services between people are also eliminated, something that technology companies had requested from the US authorities.
The government has heavily restricted the internet, with mobile networks cut from 9 p.m. until morning for the last two days.
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The United States sanctioned the Moral Police on Thursday for the death of the young woman and seven high-ranking security officials for the repression of the demonstrations.
military warning
The Iranian Army, for its part, warned that “it is ready” to help the Police deal with the protesters “to defend national security.”
The military described the protests as “desperate actions of the enemy’s diabolical strategy to weaken the Islamic regime”.
That warning comes a day after the powerful Revolutionary Guard described the protests as “sedition” and asked the judiciary to prosecute those who “spread rumors and lies” on social media and in the streets.
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The protests began with the president of Iran, Ebrahim RaisÃ, at the UN General Assembly in New York, where he downplayed the protests today, assuring that they are something “normal” and that there is freedom in the country.
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INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and EFE
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