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A
top state security body meanwhile said that 200 people,
including members of the security forces, had lost their lives
in the unrest, a figure significantly lower than that given by
the world body and rights groups.
The protests, in their third month, were ignited by the death of
22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality
police enforcing strict mandatory hijab rules.
The demonstrations have turned into a popular revolt by furious
Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the boldest
challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Unfazed by the brutal crackdown, protesters have raised slogans
against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and repeatedly
demanded an end to the Islamic government.
The authorities blame the revolt on foreign enemies, including
the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
“Iran has the most progressive constitution in the world”
because it marries “ideals with democracy,” Raisi said in a
speech to parliamentarians, quoting an unidentified African
lawyer he said he met several years ago.
“The constitution guarantees the (existence) of the Islamic
system,” he said, adding that it also “guarantees fundamental
rights and legitimate freedoms.”
The judiciary's Mizan news agency quoted the interior ministry's
state security council as saying 200 people lost their lives in
the recent "riots".
Amirali Hajizadeh, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander was
quoted as saying on Monday that 300 people, including security
force members, had been killed in the recent unrest.
Javaid Rehman, a U.N.-appointed independent expert on Iran, said
on Tuesday that more than 300 people had been killed in the
protests, including more than 40 children.
Rights group HRANA said that as of Friday 469 protesters had
been killed, including 64 minors. It said 61 government security
forces had also been killed. As many as 18,210 protesters are
believed to have been arrested.
A prominent Baluch Sunni Muslim cleric, Molavi Abdolhamid, has
called for an end to the repression of protests through arrests
and killings, and a referendum on changing Iran's government
system.
"The people's protest has shown that the policies of the last 43
years have reached a dead end," he said in late November.
(dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com, Editing by William Maclean)
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