Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic: Images of women being beaten in Iran are fabricated
The Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister claimed in an interview that there is a "complete democracy" in Iran and that some images of police violence against women in the country are "fabricated."
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, as the only minister in Ebrahim Raisi's government, has faced questions about government violence against protesters, especially women, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, which led to widespread protests.
In response to the question whether he agrees that "for those outside Iran, seeing such photos, seeing women being beaten, is disturbing," he said: "Some of these photos are fake. You should know that their [police forces] reaction is to rioters."
He added: "What happened on the first day of the protests were the feelings and emotions of the people... but now all the satellite networks and internet networks are encouraging people to come to the streets, create chaos and change the government."
The Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister also claimed about the protesters who were killed in the streets that "these people were not killed by security forces. Many of them were killed by rioters."
His statements came at a time when many videos of security forces and special guards directly firing at protesters and severely beating them have been published on social media.
Amir Abdollahian also suggested to Al-Monitor's reporter, "Travel to Iran to see what is happening on the streets of Tehran; freedom of speech, freedom of action for people, and also [freedom of] the hijab."
He added: "There is complete democracy in Iran. You have to see for yourself."
These claims have been made despite the publication of countless images and videos of the violence used by the Islamic Guidance Patrol to enforce compulsory hijab, including beating women, using live hooks to capture animals to detain them, and complete disregard for the physical and mental condition of those detained.
The Iranian Foreign Minister has also claimed that all powers and authorities in Iran are trying to determine the "truth" about Mahsa Amini's death, but the United States is taking advantage of the "pure emotions" of the Iranian people.
He has tried to portray the Islamic Republic as trying to uncover the truth while the forensic medicine, as one of the official governmental institutions, has denied any assault on Mahsa Amini and has identified the cause of death as an "underlying illness" of this young woman, contrary to the statements of her family.
Mahsa Amini, who had traveled to Tehran from Saqqez with her family to visit relatives, suffered brain death hours after being arrested by the Ershad Patrol forces and died three days later.
Eyewitnesses told his family that he had been severely beaten, and several independent doctors confirmed this after viewing his medical images.
This is while a number of members of parliament and other responsible officials strongly deny this issue.
Following Mahsa's death due to police brutality, various cities in Iran have witnessed widespread protests; the government's response to these protests has so far been nothing but violence.
Source: Radio Farda
