Add Category
Updated
Ten more people have been killed in Iran amid anti-government protests that broke out on Thursday drawing in tens of thousands of demonstrators, according to Iranian State television.
Key points:
- 12 have been killed and hundreds arrested in a government crackdown
- Demonstrators are angry over corruption and economic hardship
- The protests are the biggest since 2009, when months-long demonstrations were brutally supressed
The latest fatalities bring the death toll to 12.
"In the events of last night, unfortunately a total of about 10 people were killed in several cities," the program said, while showing footage of damage from anti-government demonstrations.
Two were killed in the southwestern town of Izeh and several others injured, ILNA news agency reported.
"I do not know whether yesterday's shooting was done by rally participants or the police and this issue is being investigated," local parliament member Hedayatollah Khademi said.
Activists say riot police shot and killed two protesters in the town of Dorud on Saturday night and arrested hundreds more, but government authorities denied involvement in the deaths.
Messages on social media urged Iranians to continue rallies in the capital Tehran and 50 other urban centres, many of which have already seen four days of unrest.
Iran is a major OPEC oil producer and regional power but frustrations have grown at home with the country deeply involved in Syria and Iraq as part of a battle for influence with rival Saudi Arabia.
Those interventions are also fuelling anger in the Islamic republic.
Iranians want their leaders to create jobs instead of engaging in costly proxy wars.
The unrest erupted in the second largest city, Mashhad, against price rises but it swiftly spread and turned into political rallies.
Some called on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down and chanted against a government they described as thieves.
Demonstrators are angry over corruption and economic hardship in a country where youth unemployment reached 28.8 per cent last year.
Protests continued overnight even though President Hassan Rouhani appealed for calm.
In remarks carried on state TV, he said Iranians had the right to criticise authorities but also warned of a crackdown, saying demonstrations should not make the public "feel concerned about their lives and security".
Video on Youtube and Twitter showed protesters attacking and burning banks, government buildings and police vehicles.
"The government will show no tolerance for those who damage public properties, violate public order and create unrest in the society," Mr Rouhani said.
Hundreds of people have been arrested but security forces have largely shown restraint.
Iran's leaders believe they can count on support from many of the generation that took part in the 1979 revolution because of their ideological commitment and the economic gains they have made under the government, analysts say.
The demonstrations are seen as one of the biggest challenges to both the government and the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has continued to tweet his support for the protesters, saying Iran is "failing at every level".
While some have shared Mr Trump's tweets, many in Iran distrust him as he has refused to re-certify the nuclear deal and because his travel bans have blocked Iranians from getting US visas.
Mr Rouhani said earlier that Mr Trump had no right to sympathise with Iranians since he "called the Iranian nation terrorists a few months ago".
Social media restrictions
Police in the centre of Tehran fired water cannon on Sunday to try to disperse demonstrators, according to pictures on social media.
Demonstrations turned violent in Shahin Shahr in central Iran.
Videos showed protesters attacking the police, turning over a car and setting it on fire, although the footage has not yet been verified.
There were also reports of demonstrations in the western cities of Sanandaj and Kermanshah as well as Chabahar in the south-east and Ilam and Izeh in the south-west.
The protests were the biggest since unrest in 2009 that followed the disputed re-election of then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Videos showed people in central Tehran chanting: "Down with the dictator!" in an apparent reference to Khamenei.
Protesters in Khorramabad in western Iran shouted: "Khamenei, shame on you, leave the country alone!"
The government said it would temporarily restrict access to the Telegram messaging app and Instagram, owned by Facebook Inc, state television said.
There were also reports that mobile access to the internet was being blocked in some areas.
Israel's intelligence minister on Monday voiced encouragement for the protests but said Israeli policy was not to get involved in Tehran's internal affairs.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, iran-islamic-republic-of
First posted