Iran news in brief, March 4, 2021

Iran news in brief, March 4, 2021 Iran: Coronavirus Death Toll Exceeds 224,900 Over 224,900 people have died of the novel coronavirus in Iran, according to reports tallied by People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran as of Wednesday. The official death toll declared by the regime stands at 60,353 around a third of the actual figure. “The UK strain of Covid-19 catches us completely off guard. Meaning the next 20 to 30 days will not be easy at all. There will be many new cases, just as we suddenly witnessed in Khuzestan. In the past two days more than 30 percent of the deaths were related to Khuzestan province,” said Alireza Raisi, spokesperson of the National Covid-19 Task Force on Wednesday. Iran: Detained Protesters Sentenced to 222 Lashes The 102nd Branch of the Behbahan Criminal Court confirmed the sentences of three protesters detained in the November 2019 protests in southwestern Iran. The three protesters' trial was held in their absence and the three men were sentenced to a total of 13 years of prison and 222 lashes. Sattar Afshinpour was charged with “destruction and torching banks and public facilities” and “disruption of public order” and sentenced to 11 years of prison and 74 lashes. Bahman Amini and Mohammad Tayebi were each sentenced to 1 year of prison and 74 lashes for “disruption of public order”. All three were arrested during the major Iran protests in November 2019 in Behbahan. Read More: https://www.ncr-iran.org   / iranncr     / iran_policy   Subscribe to NCRI weekly newsletter t.ly/MybJ