At least one killed as Iran protests enter fifth day

At least one person has been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces across Iran as demonstrations entered their fifth day, state-run media and activist groups said. The government identified the man killed late on Wednesday as a 21-year-old member of a militia that works alongside the security forces, while a rights group said he had been among the protesters.

Semiofficial outlets and a rights group also described violence and other deaths during a protest in the western city of Lordegan, though those claims could not be immediately verified. A photo released by state media showed shops closed in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Tuesday. Protests have spread from merchants and university students in major cities to smaller towns in the west, driven by high inflation and a collapse of the currency.

The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that authorities arrested 30 people in Malard county for “disrupting public order.” Tasnim also cited a prosecutor in Kuhdasht as saying some protesters chanted “subversive slogans,” threw stones at security forces, and that 13 officers were injured; the prosecutor said one Basij member died after sustaining “severe injuries.” The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said government forces shot a man who later died in hospital; that account could not be verified.

Government leaders have urged dialogue with protest leaders.

Key Topics

World, Iran, Lordegan, Basij, Masoud Pezeshkian, Hengaw Organization