New YorkAt least 14,000 people have been arrested in Iran over the past six weeks following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, according to the United Nations. “Over the past six weeks, thousands of men, women and children – by some accounts more than 14,000 individuals – have been arrested, including human rights defenders, students, lawyers, journalists and civil society activists,” said Javed Rehman, special correspondent . CNN reported the human rights situation in Iran on Wednesday.
Protests continued in the Islamic republic for weeks following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died on 16 September after being detained by “ethics police” and “re-education center” for allegedly not complying. “Was moved in. The country’s conservative dress code.
At least 277 people have died in the country due to the “unabated violent response of the security forces”, Rahman added in an address to the UN Security Council, a figure supported by reports from human rights groups.
However, it is impossible for anyone outside the Iranian government to confirm the exact figure – and there have been different estimates given by opposition groups, international rights organizations and local journalists, CNN reports.
Rahman also referred to Iran’s decision to conduct public trials for 1,000 people arrested in connection with the ongoing protests, noting that some of the charges carry the death penalty.
As CNN reports, Iranian state media – a mouthpiece for the government – itself has reported 1,000 or more people in Tehran province being involved in nationwide protests. Increasingly, activists and experts are characterizing the protest as a national uprising and one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian regime since its inception.
“This is not opposition to reform,” Roham Alvandi, associate professor of history at the London School of Economics, told CNN. “This is an insurgency demanding the end of the Islamic Republic. And it’s completely different from what we’ve seen before,” Alvandi said.
Notably, on Sunday there were violent clashes between Iranian students and Iranian security forces in universities across Iran. Sunday’s violence came amid protests across the country despite threats from the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, CNN reports.
The chief of the Guard, Hossein Salami, warned young Iranians that Saturday would be the last day of protests for the first time since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s ethics police. On Saturday, Salami called on Iranian youth in particular to stay away from the protests, CNN reports.