Iran minister says Mahsa Amini wasn't killed in custody, blames Western media for creating 'fallacious' atmosphere

“She passed away,” added Baqeri, who is currently in India as part of political consultations between the countries, ANI reported.

The young woman, who was visiting some relatives in Tehran before starting college, was detained by Iran’s "morality police" on September 13 for allegedly violating the country’s strict and mandatory hijab laws.

"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.

After taking her into custody to “teach her how to wear the hijab and how to dress,” the morality police kept beating her in the van and also hit her on the head while ferrying her to a police station, according to media reports.

Amini’s relatives allege she died of severe head injuries and not of heart attack as claimed by the Iranian government.

On the ongoing protests against Mahsa's alleged custodial death, Baqeri blamed the West for building a "baseless and fallacious atmosphere" over the demonstrations in Iran causing tensions and chaos in the country.

"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.