Iran: Lawmakers urge judiciary to give severe punishments to 'rioters' as protests continue

Iranian lawmakers have urged the country’s judiciary to give severe punishments to people participating in the ongoing unrest over the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. The demand by the lawmakers comes as anti-government protests continue.

Hardline Iranian lawmakers asked the judiciary Sunday to “deal decisively” with the instigators of the unrest amidst attempts by the Islamic Republic to suppress what is considered the largest show of opposition since the 1979 Revolution. The 227 lawmakers from the 290-member parliament made the demand in a letter, according to state media.

“We ask the judiciary to deal decisively with the perpetrators of these crimes and with all those who assisted in the crimes and provoked rioters,” said the lawmakers.

Protests broke out across the country back in September following the death of Amini while she was detained by the Islamic Republic’s Morality Police for improper attire. Amini’s death sparked public outrage.

The protests have called for the fall of the Islamic Republic, and Tehran has sought to blame its enemies – the United States and Israel – for the ongoing protests. Tehran has also accused the US and Israel of trying to destabilize the country with the protests.

The activist HRANA news outlet said that 318 protesters were killed by security forces in an attempted crackdown on the protests as of Saturday. 49 minors were among those that were killed. 38 members of the security forces were also killed in the unrest.

Demonstrations – mostly led by women and students, continued by Sunday in many cities, from the capital Tehran to Yazd and the northern city of Rasht. The protests continued despite warnings and ultimatums by security forces to ramp up their crackdown on the demonstrations.

On Monday, Iran summoned the Norwegian ambassador to the country to explain what Tehran said were “interventionist comments” by the Norwegian parliament speaker voicing support for the anti-government protests. This was also the second time the Norwegian ambassador was summoned by Iran in the last two months.

“Iran strongly condemned interventionist comments by the Norwegian parliament speaker, which were also judgemental and untrue,” according to the semi-official Fars news outlet.