Tehran: The death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini was caused by illness rather than blows or beatings, said an official medical report published Friday, three weeks after she died in custody.
Iran’s Forensic Organization said “Mahsa Amini’s death was not caused by blows to the head and vital organs and limbs of the body”, in its report published on state television.
Her death was related to “surgery for a brain tumour at the age of eight”, the same source said, adding that the report included CT scans of the brain and lungs, an autopsy and pathological tests.
Amini, 22, died on September 16, three days after falling into a coma following her arrest in Tehran by the morality police for allegedly breaching the dress code for women.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the death of Mahsa Amini had “saddened” everyone in the Islamic Republic, but warned that “chaos” would not be accepted amid spreading violent protests over Mahsa Amini’s death.
Amini’s death two weeks ago has sparked anti-government protests across Iran, with protesters often calling for the end of the Islamic clerical establishment’s more than four decades in power.
“We all are saddened by this tragic incident … (However) chaos is unacceptable,” Raisi said in an interview with state TV, while protests continued around the country.
“The government’s red line is our people’s security… One cannot allow people to disturb the peace of society through riots.”
Despite a growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by security forces using tear gas, clubs, and in some cases, live ammunition, social media videos showed Iranians persisting with protests, chanting “Death to the dictator.”
Still, a collapse of the Islamic Republic seems remote in the near term since its leaders are determined not to show the kind of weakness they believe sealed the fate of the US-backed Shah in 1979, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
Angry demonstrations have spread to over 80 cities nationwide since the September 16 death of 22-year-old Amini, after she was arrested for “unsuitable attire” by the morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.