A group of more than 225 parliamentarians in Iran have called on the courts to hand down death sentences against participants in recent protests in the country over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a woman arrested for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly, and compared them to members of the Islamic State terrorist group.
The statement, read by MP Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani and signed by 227 of the 290 deputies, calls the protesters ‘mohareb’, equivalent to warrior but also ‘enemy of God’, which carries the death penalty in Iran.
The signatories have denounced that «the United States and other enemies have instigated and organized» the protests, including «financing and providing weapons» to the demonstrators. «Some thugs have killed civilians and members of the security forces, causing the martyrdom of dozens,» they said.
«We, representatives of this nation, call on the authorities, including the judicial apparatus, to address as soon as possible these ‘mohareb’ who, like Islamic State, have attacked the life and property (of the population) with weapons and issue a divine mandate and revenge,» they have stressed.
In this line, they have called on the judicial apparatus to «act decisively against some politicians who have provoked those responsible for the riots», while applauding the work of the security forces, as reported by the Iranian news agency FARS.
Moreover, they pointed out that «the United States and other enemies of Iran have suffered consecutive defeats» in the region, including conflicts «in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen», before closing the session by chanting ‘Death to America’, ‘Death to the hypocrites’ and ‘Death to the seditionists’.
The crackdown on protests over Amini’s death, which include calls for the fall of the Iranian regime, have so far resulted in the deaths of more than 300 people, the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) denounced on Saturday.
