The minister blamed the West for building a “baseless and fallacious atmosphere” about the demonstrations in Iran and leading to tensions and chaos in his country.

Mahsa Amini was not killed, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Baqeri claimed, defending his government following the death of the 22-year-old in police custody in September this year, triggering massive protests in the country and globally. “She passed away,” he added. Baqeri is currently in India as part of political consultations between the countries.

The minister blamed the West for building a “baseless and fallacious atmosphere” about the demonstrations in Iran and leading to tensions and chaos in his country.

“Mahsa Amini was not killed, she passed away. We have seen the atmosphere created by some western media with regard to the development in Iran. This atmosphere is baseless and fallacious. We are seeing the rights of the Iranian nation being violated by these western powers,” he told news agency ANI.

“The western powers don’t talk about the people of Afghanistan, Palestine or Yemen. They don’t denounce or condemn these actions. Who are the real killers of these people?” the minister said.

Iran witnessed one of the biggest shows of dissent in recent history following the death of Amini, who was detained by the “morality police” on September 13 for allegedly violating the country’s strict and mandatory hijab laws.