Government releases full list of persons killed in riots
Iran's government released in a statement on Sunday the names of those killed in recent foreign-backed riots across the country, which resulted in the death of more than 3,100 people.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday ordered the public release of the names of the victims in a bid to declare the real death toll after some Persian-language media operating outside the country reported a much higher death toll in the protests.
The names of the 2986 people, including security forces and ordinary people, were released by the government on Sunday, except for 131 who are yet to be identified. Iranian authorities have already announced the death of 3,117 people during the protests which began over economic problems on December 28 but turned violent after the United States supported riots in the country.
The statement underlined that all victims of the recent incidents were “children of this land”, and no bereaved family should be left helpless. Unlike the enemies and ill-wishers of the country, who treat human lives as mere numbers and seek their political gain, from the perspective of the Islamic Republic, those who lost their lives in the tragic events are not merely statistics, the statement said.
Pezeshkian also on Wednesday instructed Justice Minister Amin-Hossein Rahimi to work with the judiciary to speed up the release of those detained during the unrest, according to a statement on the president's website.