Mothers hold up photos of their sons killed in November 2019 protests in Iran

A hardline MP has offered the second implicit acknowledgement in two days that Iran’s security forces killed demonstrators to suppress mass protests in November.

Mojtaba Zolnour, the former head of Parliament’s National Security Committee, issued the statement on Monday.

Zolnour said the victims included six security personnel. He said of the other 224 people who were killed;

The death toll includes 7% who were killed during shootouts, 16% were shot to death during attacks on police stations, 26% were those who were killed for no particular reason, and 31% were those who had attacked public places.”

The legislator also acknowledged, “We had about 2,000 people injured.”

However, he claimed that this showed the restraint of the military, paramilitary Basij, and police: “If they had adopted an offensive stance and wanted to suppress, the figure of the injured would have been manifolds higher.”

Zolnour added, without evidence, that “the number of injured among the police and security forces stood at over 5,000”.

He also falsely said foreign outlets had claimed up to 10,000 protesters were killed.

Amnesty International has detailed the slaying of 304 protesters by the security forces, with many shot at close range and some while fleeing. The opposition website Kalemeh reported in early January that more than 600 demonstrators were killed. Iranian officials told Reuters that 1,500 people, including security personnel and bystanders as well as protesters, died.

The publication of detailed reports with first-hand testimony, including by Amnesty and by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, has put the Iranian regime under pressure to give official figures almost seven months after the protests.

On Sunday Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the number of those slain was about 200, in the four days of demonstrations across the country: “Around 40 to 45 people, that is about 20% of the death toll were killed with weapons not issued by the government.”

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The rallies were sparked by the Government’s sudden rise of 50% to 200% in petrol prices to raise revenue amid Iran’s economic crisis. The Supreme Leader reportedly told authorities to use “all means” to suppress the marches.

Like other officials, Zolnour tried to portray foreign instigation of the demonstrations:

What happened in Aban 1398 [November 2019] was natural, because the same people who support the Revolution may have complaints about certain issues, which is quite natural.

The global hegemonic system tried to exploit this opportunity and provoke various social groups. Those people who listen to foreign media outlets would naturally take the lead and try to achieve their goals by taking advantage of people’s sentiments.