Iran responsible for ‘physical violence‘ that killed Mahsa Amini: U.N. probe

UN report blames Iran for Mahsa Amini's death, sparking protests against mandatory hijab laws and human rights abuses.

Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and sparked nationwide protests against the country's mandatory headscarf, or hijab, laws and its ruling theocracy, a U.N. fact-finding mission said on Friday.

The stark pronouncement came in a wide-ranging initial report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council by the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran.

It also found that the Islamic Republic employed “unnecessary and disproportionate use of lethal force” to put down the demonstrations that erupted following Amini's death, and that Iranian security forces sexually assaulted detainees.

The monthslong security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained.

There was no immediate comment on the report from Iran. Iranian officials did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on the mission's findings.

The release of the report is unlikely to change the trajectory of Iran's government, now more firmly in the hands of hard-liners after a low-turnout vote last week put them back in charge of the country's parliament.

However, it provides further international pressure on Tehran amid wider Western concerns about its advancing nuclear program, Iran's arming of Russia in Moscow's war on Ukraine and the continued harassment and imprisonment of activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.