At least 35 people, including 4 children, killed in Iran protests, says rights group

The death toll in violence surrounding protests in Iran has risen to at least 35 people, activists said Tuesday, as the demonstrations showed no signsof stopping. The figure came from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which said more than 1,200 people have been detained in the protests that have been ongoing for more than a week. The death toll included 29 protesters and four children, as well as two members of Iran’s security forces. Demonstrations have reached over 250 locations in 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces.

The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest. The semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported late Monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force have been hurt in the demonstrations.

The agency also claimed Monday that the protests were slowing down, and that “the trend observed on Sunday night shows a notable decrease in the number of gatherings and their geographic reach compared to previous nights.” Local media’s accounting of the protests is not exhaustive, and state-run outlets have downplayed their coverage of the demonstrations, while videos flooding social media are often impossible to verify. On Monday, most shops in Tehran were open and residents were going about their business after the end of the weekend on Sunday, according to AFP reporters in the capital. (Read More)