Iran said it was exercising “utmost restraint” in the face of protests, after drawing condemnation for executing a man involved in demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
The Islamic republic has seen weeks of unrest — which authorities call “riots” — following the death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish origin, after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress code for women.
Mohsen Shekari, 23, was hanged Thursday after being convicted for blocking a Tehran street and wounding a paramilitary on September 25, early on in the protests.
“In countering riots, Iran has shown utmost restraint and, unlike many Western regimes… Iran has employed proportionate and standard anti-riot methods,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The same is true for the judicial process: restraint and proportionality,” it said on Twitter late Thursday.
Western governments have condemned the Iranian authorities’ protest crackdown, which rights groups based abroad say has killed more than 450 people.
Iran says more than 200 people have died, including security personnel.
Ten other people now face the death penalty in the Islamic republic over the protests.
London-based rights group Amnesty International says at least 28 people are at risk of execution.
“Armed assault and vandalism aren’t tolerable” even to Western regimes, Iran’s foreign ministry said, accusing those governments of hypocrisy.
“Public security is a red line,” the statement added.
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