TEHRAN – Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Wednesday called for national reconciliation and healing following weeks of unrest that left thousands dead across the country.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the annual Fajr Film Festival in Tehran’s Wahdat Hall, Pezeshkian urged Iranians to mend divisions and move forward.
“They were bitter wounds, but they should be healed and not deepened to the point of infection,” he said, according to the ISNA news agency.
“It is now necessary to look ahead and reconcile, instead of continuing to argue and leaving the country to foreign enemies.”
The president added that he has been personally affected by the violence.
“I myself can no longer sleep at night and am very saddened by the bitter developments,” he said.
His remarks were met with subdued applause from attendees.
Several artists and award recipients reportedly boycotted the ceremony in solidarity with victims of the unrest.
The scale of the casualties remains disputed. Official figures say more than 3,000 people were killed during the unrest between late December and early January.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has estimated the death toll at more than 7,000 in its latest report.
It said some Persian-language media outlets abroad have suggested that tens of thousands may have been killed by security forces.
Iranian authorities have rejected higher casualty estimates, saying that foreign mercenaries and “terrorists” were among those involved in the demonstrations. (dpa/NAN)
