Iran says investigating woman’s death, rebuffs US calls for accountability

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iranian authorities have launched an investigation into the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody, the country’s foreign minister said, rebuffing US calls for accountability.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian termed Mahsa Amini’s death as “tragic” and said she was “just like our own daughters”.

The top Iranian diplomat took strong umbrage to a statement issued by the White House, asserting that human rights are of “inherent value” to Iran “unlike those who use it as a tool against adversaries”.

Amini was on Friday taken to a police station in Tehran by members of the morality police for alleged violation of the Islamic dress code. Inside the police station, the 22-year-old woman fainted in mysterious circumstances and was later pronounced dead at a Tehran hospital, according to a CCTV footage released by the police.

On Friday, soon after the news broke out, US special envoy on Iran, Robert Malley, described the incident as “appalling”.

“Iran must end its violence against women for exercising their fundamental rights. Those responsible for her death should be held accountable,” he tweeted.

At a weekly presser in Tehran on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani dismissed remarks by US officials on the young woman’s death, calling it “intervention” in Iran’s domestic affairs.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has asked the interior ministry to investigate the incident as protests continue to grow louder. Police say the young woman died of cardiac arrest but her family alleges that Amini had no medical history and was in good health.