Iranian general acknowledges more than 300 dead in unrest

The activist group says 451 protesters and 60 security forces have been killed since the start of the unrest in September and that more than 18,000 people have been detained.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

An Iranian general has acknowledged that more than 300 people have been killed in the unrest surrounding nationwide protests, giving the first official word on casualties in two months.

The estimate is considerably lower than the toll reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a US-based group that has been closely tracking the protests since they erupted after the death of a young woman being held by the country’s morality police.