Iranian protests
Iranian protestsiStock

Two members of Iran's security forces were killed amid protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, AFP reported on Sunday, citing Iranian state media.

A wave of unrest has rocked Iran since the 22-year-old Kurdish woman died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.

The street violence has led to dozens of deaths, mostly of protesters but also members of the security forces.

According to Sunday’s report, a member of the Basij force was killed Saturday night "after suffering a serious head injury following an armed attack by a mob" in the south of the capital,

The Basij is a paramilitary militia linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The IRNA news agency reported that a Guards member was also killed on Saturday during protests in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, from which Amini hailed.

The deaths bring to at least 14 the number of security forces killed during more than three weeks of protests, according to local media.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed last week that protests inside the country were the work of Israel and the United States.

Describing Amini’s death a “sad accident,” he alleged that the protests were not organized by outraged Iranians but by agents of Israel and the US.

"This rioting was planned," he said. "These riots and insecurities were designed by America and the Zionist regime, and their employees."

Khamenei added that protesters deserved to be imprisoned, claiming that participants in demonstrations were out to “sabotage” the country and should face harsh punishment.

Meanwhile, Iran's Forensic Organization claimed on Friday that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than blows or beatings.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)