MP: Many people were killed in Mahshahr

A member of the Majlis’s delegation said that many people were killed in the Mahshahr reeds because they were trying to damage the country’s main energy transmission lines. According to the head of the president’s office: “Armed individuals were shooting at the police and the public.”

Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, a member of the presidium of the parliament, said in justifying the killing of protesters who were killed by security forces in the reeds on the outskirts of Mahshahr: "A large number of people have been killed in Mahshahr; we know exactly who they were, where they got their weapons, they wanted to damage the country's main energy transmission lines. Then what should the person responsible for the security of those lines have done there?"

In response to criticism of the security forces' violent response to protesters protesting the increase in gasoline prices, a member of the presidium of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has defended the government's actions in shooting directly at people.

According to ISNA news agency, Ghazizadeh Hashemi, at a ceremony commemorating Student Day at the Agriculture and Natural Resources Campus of Tehran University, defended the security forces' performance in violently suppressing protesters against the increase in gasoline prices, saying: "A protest occurred, but a group of people took anti-security measures."

He added: "In the meantime, it is possible that innocent people have been harmed, and the Islamic ruler has a duty to compensate them, pay blood money, and take care of their families."

Despite this, Ghazizadeh Hashemi clarifies: "The institutions that were supposed to prevent this, such as the National Security Council, acted very badly."

Legal basis of the “Economic Council”

In response to a student who criticized the extralegal nature of the “Economic Council of the Heads of the Three Powers,” Ghazizadeh Hashemi said: “This institution is not extralegal. According to our constitution, determining the limits of extraordinary circumstances and final approval is the responsibility of the leadership. For two years, the president has been declaring in public speeches and correspondence that the country’s circumstances are special and has demanded more powers, complaining that he does not have enough authority to govern the country.”

He clarified that the leaders of the revolution have given this authority to the heads of the three branches of government.

The Iranian MP confirmed that during the parliamentary session, three urgent questions were prepared to be asked of the president and the impeachment of two ministers, but in a letter sent by the Supreme Leader to the MPs, he asked them to set aside the impeachment and follow the decisions of the Supreme National Security Council.

“Shooting by armed individuals at police and people”

Mahmoud Vaezi, the chief of staff of the President of the Islamic Republic, also made a statement regarding the killing of some people in the Mahshahr reeds, claiming: "Based on the images available of these incidents, some armed people were shooting at the police and people, which is very strange."

According to ISNA news agency, Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff told reporters on Wednesday (December 10) on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting: "In Mahshahr and Asaluyeh, we witnessed that they had barricaded themselves and had weapons, which was strange; some of the deaths were also committed by them."

Vaezi told reporters: "Many countries, including the United States, the Zionist regime, some reactionary countries in the region, and some European countries, had calculated the events of November in Iran very carefully."

On behalf of Hassan Rouhani's government, he thanked "all law enforcement and security agencies, and the Revolutionary Guard and Basij institutions for taking very good measures in a short time."

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting previously aired a report titled “A Reflection on the Project of Killing Recent Incidents in Hostile Media.” The report called the protesters “rioters” and “villains” and reported that the police had clashed with the protesters and even shot them in the Mahshahr reeds.

This is despite the fact that, according to eyewitness accounts and videos posted on social media, protesters first blocked the road leading to the petrochemical plant. Then, they took refuge in a reed bed when military forces attacked and shot people inside.

Source: DW