At least 6 dead during protests in Iran over the economic crisis

Extension demonstrations Violence sparked by Iran’s weakened economy spread to the Islamic Republic’s rural provinces on Thursday, with at least six people killed in the first reported deaths among security forces and protesters, authorities said.

The deaths may mark the beginning of a tougher response by the Iranian theocracy to the demonstrations, which have subsided in the capital, Tehran, but expanded elsewhere. The deaths, one on Wednesday and five on Thursday, occurred in three cities dominated by Iran’s Lur ethnic group.

The protests have become the largest in Iran since 2022, when the death of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody sparked demonstrations throughout the country. However, the demonstrations have not yet spread to the entire country and have not been as intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained for not wearing her hijab or headscarf, as the authorities liked.

In the latest protests, which revolve around economic issues, protesters have also shouted against Iran’s theocracy. The country’s leaders are still reeling after Israel launched a 12-day war against the country in June. The United States also bombed Iranian nuclear facilities during the war.

“The people of Iran want freedom. They have suffered at the hands of the ayatollahs for too long,” Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said in a post on X earlier this week.

“We stand with Iranians on the streets of Tehran and across the country as they protest against a radical regime that has brought them nothing but economic crisis and war,” he said.

The most intense violence appeared to hit Azna, a city in Iran’s Lorestan province, about 300 kilometers southwest of Tehran. There, online videos purported to show objects in the street on fire and gunshots ringing out as people shouted: “Shameless! Shameless!”

The semi-official Fars news agency reported that three people had died. Other media, including pro-reform ones, cited Fars for the report, while state media did not fully acknowledge the violence there or elsewhere. It was unclear why there were no more reports on the unrest, but journalists faced arrest for their reporting in 2022.

In Lordegan, a city in Iran’s Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, online videos showed protesters gathering on a street, with the sound of gunshots in the background. The images matched known features of Lordegan, about 290 miles south of Tehran.

Fars, citing an unnamed official, said two people were killed during protests on Thursday.

The Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran said two people had died there, and identified the dead as protesters. He also shared a still image of what appeared to be an Iranian police officer, wearing bulletproof vest and wielding a shotgun.

In 2019, the area around Lordegan saw widespread protests, with protesters reportedly damaging government buildings after a report said people there had been infected with HIV from contaminated needles used at a local healthcare clinic.

Another demonstration on Wednesday night reportedly led to the death of a 21-year-old volunteer with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Basij force.

The state news agency IRNA reported the death of the Guard member, but did not provide further details. An Iranian news agency called Student News Network, believed to be close to the Basij, placed blame squarely on protesters for the Guardsman’s death, citing comments from Saeed Pourali, deputy governor of Lorestan province.

The Guard member “was martyred… at the hands of rioters during protests in this city in defense of public order,” he reportedly said. Another 13 Basij members and police officers were injured, he added.

“The protests that have occurred are due to economic pressures, inflation and currency fluctuations, and are an expression of concerns about livelihoods,” Pourali said. “Citizens’ voices must be heard carefully and tactfully, but people must not allow their demands to be forced by for-profit individuals.”

The protests took place in the city of Kouhdasht, more than 400 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Local prosecutor Kazem Nazari said 20 people had been arrested after the protests and that calm had returned to the city, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported.

Iran’s civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal that it wants to negotiate with protesters. However, Pezeshkian has acknowledged that there is not much he can do, as the Iranian rial has depreciated rapidly, and 1 dollar now costs about 1.4 million rials.

Meanwhile, state television separately reported the arrest of seven people, including five it described as royalists and two others it said had links to groups based in Europe. State television also said that in another operation security forces confiscated 100 smuggled pistols, without giving further details.

The Iranian theocracy had declared Wednesday a holiday in much of the country, citing the cold weather, probably as an attempt to get people out of the capital for a long weekend. The Iranian weekend is Thursday and Friday, while Saturday marks Imam Ali’s birthday, another holiday for many.