Deadly Clashes Erupt as Economic Protests Spread Across Iran

At least one person has been killed amid a fifth day of demonstrations across Iran that were sparked by high inflation and a collapsing currency, state media and activist groups said. The government identified the dead man as a 21-year-old member of a militia that works with security forces.

A rights group disputed that account, and the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said government forces shot the man during a protest and he died after being taken to a hospital. Those claims could not be independently verified. Semiofficial outlets and rights groups also reported violence and further deaths during protests in the western city of Lordegan.

On Wednesday, protesters in Fasa reportedly threw objects at a government complex and forced open its gates. Protests that began with merchants and university students in major cities have spread into smaller towns in western Iran. Tasnim news agency said authorities arrested 30 people for "disrupting public order" in Malard county, west of Tehran.

Kazem Nazari, the public prosecutor of Kuhdasht County, told Tasnim that some demonstrators chanted "subversive slogans" and committed acts of "sabotage," including throwing stones at security forces.

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