Children reportedly deployed as police officers in Iran to dissuade protesters
Minors, dressed and equipped as police officers, have been deployed in the city of Varamin in Iran in an attempt to dissuade protesters, Iranian independent news outlet Iran Wire said on Thursday.
????سو استفاده جمهوری اسلامی از کودکان در راستای سرکوب مردم معترض در خیابانهای ایران. #ورامین#مهسا_امینی #اعتراضات_سراسری pic.twitter.com/ZOa5QSMiPm
— ایران وایر (@iranwire) September 28, 2022
It published pictures allegedly taken in Varamin showing a small group of teenagers in uniforms and gear.
As protests has continued for a fourteenth night over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) released an audio file, accusing the authorities of trying to cover up the incident.
Mohammad Bagher Bakhtiar, former senior IRGC commander, said that according to reliable sources in Iran's institution of forensic medicine, the cause of Amini's death was diagnosed as "head injuries and concussion."
A veteran TV show host was taken into custody on Wednesday evening after posting messages in support of the ongoing demonstrations on his Instagram page.
Mahmoud Shahriari, 60, had been banned from TV and radio appearances in 2020, after he criticized Tehran's response to the Covid-19 outbreak and its support for Shia militias abroad.
