Chemical weapons. (Shutterstock)
Footage goes viral showing Iranian security forces in hazmat suits.
By World Israel News Staff
Iranian security forces may have used chemical weapons against anti-regime protesters during efforts to crack down on mass protests in major cities earlier this month, a former British lawmaker said over the weekend.
On Saturday, former Labour Party MP Bill Rammell said on GB News that a “credible” Iranian-Kurdish source had reported that pro-regime forces had used “toxic chemical substances” during the massive crackdown on dissident protests on January 8 and 9, after the government cut internet services and cellphone coverage across the country.
Rammell said that the report claimed that protesters hit by the chemical weapons in some cases died days after being exposed to the substance.
“The number of those killed and injured is very high,” Rammell said.
The former Labour MP, who is a member of the party’s foreign policy group, added that the report had not been independently verified, while emphasizing that he has no reason to doubt its veracity.
“If that is true, I think that is extraordinarily concerning,” he said.
The report comes amid video clips from protests in the northeastern Iranian city of Sabzevar earlier this month showing pro-regime forces wearing hazardous material (hazmat) suits and operating out of trucks bearing hazmat signs.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a Washington-based group with ties to networks of activists inside Iran, said Saturday night that it has been notified of nearly 7,700 individuals killed by pro-regime forces since the protest movement began, adding that it has confirmed 3,308 of those fatalities.
Other estimates from Iran put the total number of fatalities at between 12,000 and 20,000.
A network of healthcare providers in Iran recently claimed between 16,500 and 18,000 protesters were killed, with 330,000 to 360,000 injured.
Most of the casualties occurred during the first two nights of the crackdown, Jan. 8 and 9.
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