Iranian forces may have killed more than 1,000 protesters

US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook says Iranian
security forces may have killed more than 1,000 people since protests over
gasoline price hikes started in mid-November.
“As the truth is trickling out of Iran, it appears
the regime could have murdered over a thousand Iranian citizens since the protests
began,” Hook told reporters at the State Department.
He said the US has seen video of one incident in
which more than 100 people were shot and killed.
Hook added that “many thousands of Iranians” had
also been wounded and at least 7,000 detained in Iran’s prisons.
The unrest, which began on November 15 after the
government abruptly raised fuel prices by as much as 300 percent, spread to
more than 100 cities and towns and turned political as young and working-class
protesters demanded clerical leaders step down.
Tehran has given no official death toll but Amnesty
International said on Monday it had documented the deaths of at least 208
protesters, making the disturbances the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic
Revolution.
Tehran’s clerical rulers have blamed “thugs” linked
to its opponents in exile and the country’s main foreign foes for the unrest.
The struggle of ordinary Iranians to make ends meet
has become harder since last year, when US President Donald Trump withdrew the
United States from Tehran’s nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed
sanctions that have further crippled Iran's oil-based economy.
Hook also said a US Navy warship seizing advanced
missile parts believed to be linked to Iran from a boat it stopped in the
Arabian Sea on November 25 was likely further proof of Tehran's efforts to
inflame conflict in the region.
“We interdicted a significant hoard of weapons and
missile parts evidently of Iranian origin. The seizure includes sophisticated
weapons,”" he said, adding that the vessel was reportedly heading to Yemen
to deliver the weapons.
“The weapon components comprise the most
sophisticated weapons seized by the US Navy to date during the Yemen conflict,”
Hook said.
In recent years, US warships have intercepted and
seized Iranian arms likely bound for Iran-aligned Houthi fighters.
Under a United Nations resolution, Tehran is
prohibited from supplying, selling or transferring weapons outside the country
unless approved by the Security Council. A separate UN resolution on Yemen bans
the supply of weapons to Houthi leaders.