The Iranian regime said Tuesday that women make up 10% of people arrested during the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on Sept. 16 in custody of the country’s morality police. She was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
Some foreign media have names some of the women as victims in the recent riots, but the available evidence clearly shows their cause of death, the Mehr News Agency quoted Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Ensieh Khazali as saying.
She added that the West “practices dictatorship in the name of women, but actually does not allow them to make their demands.”
She recalled Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Oct. 3 statements, when he stressed that the “morality police was just a pretext to spark chaos,” and that if there had been no such issue, they might have invented other excuses to riot.
“They can’t tolerate seeing our progress in various fields,” Khazali said.
She underscored the role of women in the country’s decision-making process, noting that the government had appointed several women in the supreme councils.
Commenting on the hijab debate, Khazali said no country enjoys absolute freedom in terms of dress code.