"The rising number of deaths from protests in Iran, including those of two children at the weekend, and the hardening of the response by security forces, underline the critical situation in the country," said Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for UN human rights chief Volker Turk, at a Geneva news briefing."So far, 40 foreign nationals have been arrested for their involvement in the protests," Iran's judiciary spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi told a televised news conference, without revealing their nationalities.Iran hits Iraqi Kurdistan In attacks linked to the protests, Iran's Revolutionary Guard targeted on Tuesday a base of what it says are "separatist terrorists" in Iraq's Kurdistan region with missiles and kamikaze drones, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.The news agency also said that since Nov. 14 the Revolutionary Guards launched a new round of attacks against "separatist terrorists" in response to the group's alleged anti-security actions in Iranian cities bordering Iraq."This step, which carries significant proliferation-related risks, has no credible civilian justification."