Growing unrest in Iran is said to have claimed more lives in a fifth day of protests over rising costs of living.
Both the semi-official Fars news agency and the human rights group Hengaw said two people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Lordegan, southwestern Iran. Three more people were killed in Azna and another in Kouhdasht, Fars reported, all in the west of the country.
Videos posted on social media on Thursday showed cars being set on fire during clashes between protesters and security forces.
Many protesters have called for an end to the rule of the country’s supreme leader. Some have also called for a return to the monarchy.
As the day passed, the fifth day of protests saw increasing reports of unrest across the country, fueled by a currency collapse.
Persian videos verified by the BBC show protests in the central city of Lordegan, the capital Tehran and Marvdasht in the southern province of Fars taking place on Thursday.
Fars reported that two people were killed in Lordegan, citing an informed official. The report did not specify whether the dead were protesters or members of the security forces. It also reported the three deaths in Azna, in neighboring Lorestan province, without specifying whether there were any demonstrators or security officials.
Rights group Hengaw said the two killed in Lordegan were protesters and named them Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh.
BBC Persian has not been able to independently verify the deaths.
Separately, state media said a member of security forces affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was killed in clashes with protesters on Wednesday. night in the city of Kouhdasht, in the western province of Lorestan.
The BBC has been unable to verify this and protesters say the man was one of them and was shot dead by security forces.
Another 13 police officers and Basij members were injured by throwing stones in the area, the state media report said.
Schools, universities and public institutions were closed across the country on Wednesday after authorities declared a public holiday in an apparent attempt to quell the unrest.
It was ostensibly to save energy due to the cold weather, although it was seen by many Iranians as an attempt to contain the protests.
They started in Tehran, among shopkeepers angry about another sharp decline in the value of the Iranian currency against the US dollar on the open market.
On Tuesday, university students were involved and had spread to several cities, where people chanted against the country’s spiritual rulers.
The protests are the most widespread since a 2022 uprising sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused by vice squad of improperly wearing her veil. But they were not on the same scale.
To prevent escalation, tight security is now reported in the areas of Tehran where the demonstrations began.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government will listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters.
But the attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, has also warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with what he called a “decisive response.”
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