A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran, reportedly shows a motorcycle on fire in the capital Tehran, on Oct 8, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP)
TEHRAN – Iran's National Security Council announced on Saturday that more than 200 people have lost their lives in recent "riots" in the country.
"Investigations by the authorities show that as a result of the aforementioned riots, more than 200 people have lost their lives," the council said in a statement released by the official IRNA news agency.
The casualties include security officers, civilians, "rioters" and "armed anti-revolutionary members of separatist groups"
The casualties include security officers, civilians, "rioters" and "armed anti-revolutionary members of separatist groups", it added.
The "riots" that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini were not "a civil protest" but "destruction and violence," the council noted.
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"Any disturbance in public order and illegal gatherings at any level and place will be dealt with decisively and without tolerance," it vowed.
In September, Amini died in a Tehran hospital a few days after collapsing at a police station, sparking protests across Iran. The protests first erupted in her native province of Kurdistan and then spread to other Iranian cities including the capital Tehran.
Also on Saturday, an Iranian local official said that those who virtually called for "street riots" in Shiraz city, the capital of the southwestern province of Fars, have been arrested, semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
The arrestees all belong to a nine-member group related to political and opposition activists abroad, said Aboozar Ranjbar, head of Shiraz Revolution Court, adding the head of the group had bombs with delay detonators when he was arrested.
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"The widespread and organized activity of this group with the aim of directing street riots in different parts of Shiraz has been proven during the investigations," Ranjbar noted.
Another attempt by the group to set fire to a Basij base in Shiraz also ended in failure, said the judicial official, adding the case is still being investigated to identify other dimensions and possible connections.
The Basij is a volunteer force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.