“Iran has the most progressive constitution in the world” because it matches “ideals with democracy”, Raisi said in a speech to lawmakers, quoting an unnamed African lawyer he said he had met several years earlier.
“The constitution guarantees the (existence) of the Islamic order,” he said, adding that it also “guarantees fundamental rights and legitimate freedoms.”
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency quoted the Interior Ministry’s State Security Council as saying that 200 people had lost their lives in recent “riots”.
Amirali Hajizadeh, a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said on Monday that 300 people, including security force members, had been killed in the recent unrest.
Jawed Rahman, the UN-appointed independent expert on Iran, said on Tuesday that more than 300 people have been killed in the protests, including more than 40 children.
Rights group HRANA said as of Friday 469 protesters had been killed, including 64 minors. It said that 61 government security forces were also killed. 18,210 protesters are believed to have been arrested.
