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Iran’s supreme leader has praised the role of the country’s Basij paramilitary force in deadly action anti-establishment protesters
Meeting with Basij personnel in Tehran on Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Described the popular protest movement as “rioters” and “thugs” supported by foreign forces and praised the “innocent” Basij fighters for defending the nation.
The Basij is a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that has been deployed to the streets since September after protests escalated.
The protest movement was initially sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22 In custody of Iran’s morality police.
Amnesty International says the Basij have been ordered to “combat brutally” the protesters.
The supreme leader said on Saturday, “Basis have always shown themselves to be courageous when facing the enemy in the battlefield, not afraid of the enemy.”
“You saw in the recent events, our innocent and oppressed Basij became the target of persecution so that they do not allow the country to become a target of rioters and thugs and those who [enemy] Payroll, whether knowingly or unknowingly. He gave of himself to free others,” Khamenei said.
Khamenei’s words come days after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights chief Volker Turk warned that Iran was in a “full human rights crisis” due to the crackdown on anti-regime dissidents.
Member states of the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday adopted a resolution titled “The deteriorating situation of human rights in Iran, especially with regard to women and children”, which highlighted Iran’s human rights violations during the nationwide protests in the past months. A fact-finding mission was constituted to investigate. ,
Turk calls for “independent, fair and transparent investigative processes” into human rights violations in Iran special sessionSecurity forces have reportedly responded to protests by using deadly force against unarmed protesters and bystanders who presented “no threat”, the Council of 47 member states in Geneva told.
According to Turki, more than 14,000 people, including children, have been arrested in connection with the protests. At least 21 of them are currently facing the death penalty and six have already been sentenced to death, he added.
Those arrested include two famous Iranian actors, Hungameh Ghaziani and Katayun Riahi, who[…] taken into custody to publicly support nationwide protests on separate occasions, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The Islamic republic has been hit hard by a wave of anti-government protests that began after Amini’s death for allegedly not wearing a hijab.
Authorities have since launched a deadly crackdown on protesters, with reports of forcible detention and physical abuse targeting the country’s Kurdish minority group. one in Recent CNN InvestigationSecret testimony revealed that sexual violence against protesters, including boys, occurred in Iran’s detention centers since the unrest began.
According to Turki, the unprecedented national uprising has captured more than 150 cities and 140 universities in all 31 provinces of Iran.
Iran’s security forces’ violent response to the protesters has shaken diplomatic relations between Tehran and Western leaders.
The White House imposed its latest sanctions on three officials in Iran’s Kurdish region on Wednesday, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “deeply concerned that Iranian officials are allegedly escalating violence against protesters.”
During an interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV on Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that foreign powers were interfering in Iranian internal affairs and creating “misleading narratives”.