10-Day Silence on Iran Protest Death Toll; Protesters Shot ‘From Close Range’

Ten days after nationwide protests in Iran, Islamic Republic authorities have still not released official figures on deaths and arrests. Meanwhile, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards announced that protesters killed had been shot from “close range.”

Ali Fadavi, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said on Sunday, November 3rd: “In the recent events, many people were killed while being shot from a distance of one to one-and-a-half meters from behind, which means bullets were fired through their bodies.”

Claiming that those responsible for killing protesters were “a handful of ruffians” who acted “at the instigation of enemies,” he added: “The coroner will certainly report. Many people were shot in the stomach from a distance of one or half a meter and were killed, meaning they killed people with light weapons.”

Fadavi’s remarks came as numerous videos have been released in recent days showing security forces directly firing bullets at people in various cities.

For example, the “Kurdistan Human Rights Network” released a video from Javanroud showing security officers continuously firing from the roof of the courthouse building toward protesters.

Shahrollah Bahrami, head of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces, also said on Sunday regarding deaths and injuries from the recent crackdown on protests that in recent events “someone may have been temporarily harmed, which is natural in urban warfare.”

These officials’ remarks come as estimates suggest that at least 138 people were killed and many others wounded in five days of suppressing Iran’s protests.

In this regard, Ghassem Mirzaei Niko, representative of Damavand in parliament, announced that recent protests occurred in over 500 locations across the country and more than 130 people were killed during the protests.

Islamic Republic authorities have also not released figures on those arrested during these protests, only referring to the arrest of some of whom they called “leaders” of the protests.

Meanwhile, Alireza Edianni, head of the Ideological-Political Organization of the Police Force, claimed on Sunday that interrogations revealed “182 leaders” of the protesters “were operating under the organization and direction of the enemy.”

He provided no details about his claim.

On Friday, the Judiciary spokesman had announced that approximately 100 people, whom he called “leaders, ringleaders and main operatives” of the protests in various parts of the country, were arrested by the Revolutionary Guards.

Gholamhossein Esmaili had also said that “a considerable group, far exceeding this number, were identified by the Intelligence Ministry and some of them were arrested or are about to be arrested.”

Radio Farda’s summary of scattered statements by official authorities and reports from human rights organizations indicates that at least 4,800 people have been arrested in 18 provinces of Iran in the recent protests.

Meanwhile, a wave of arrests of political and student activists began on Wednesday across Iran’s provinces, and according to reports, 50 students from Tehran University have been arrested.

In recent days, reports have been released about mistreatment and torture of detainees.

Ali Asghar Jahangiri, head of the Prison Organization, said on Sunday in response to a question about a recurrence of incidents similar to the Kahrizak detention facility incident, that this detention facility was not under the authority of the Judiciary and the Prison Organization, but “we will make every effort to ensure no problems arise for detainees.”

At the same time, in response to the question of whether all those arrested have been placed under the authority of the Prison Organization, he said: “In this regard, police and security authorities should be accountable.”

Islamic Republic Officials’ Statements on Internet Shutdown

The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps also said on Sunday that “the internet is a conduit for American depravities.”

Ali Fadavi added: “Trump and Pompeo were terrified that we shut down the internet because the internet was a conduit for depravities and evils that they wanted to carry out.”

The head of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces also said: “Officials made great efforts to prevent the internet connection from being cut, but ultimately they realized it wasn’t possible and were forced to shut down the internet. Now our enemies are mourning why the internet has been shut down for some time and they were unable to do anything.”

This claim comes as the NetBlocks website manager had previously tweeted that shutting down Iran’s internet “lasted 24 hours.”

Given that the internet in Iran was cut off at 6 p.m. on November 16th, it appears that Islamic Republic authorities issued the internet shutdown order in the early hours of the protests, but due to technical reasons this was not completed until the following day.

Currently, Iran’s internet traffic with the outside world has been largely restored, but Iranian users are still forced to use various VPN services to bypass filtering of foreign websites.

Source: Radio Farda