People protesting against Iran’s deteriorating economic situation took to the streets in several provinces of the country on Sunday, with some demonstrations resulting in deadly clashes with police.
At least three people were killed and 17 injured when demonstrators attacked a police station in the city of Azna in western Iran’s Lorestan province on Thursday night, state news agency Fars said.
Fars said demonstrators clashed with police, threw rocks at officers and set cars on fire. The news agency said some armed “rioters took advantage of the protests in the city.” Fahls offered no evidence and said police later confiscated firearms from some of the individuals.
Earlier in the day, dozens of protesters clashed with police in Loudegan district in southwestern Chaharmahal Bakhtiari province, leaving at least two people dead, Firth said. It remains unclear whether the casualties were among law enforcement officials or protesters. Unverified videos circulating on social media showed protesters throwing stones at uniformed police officers in the state. Fars claimed that protesters threw stones at the governor’s office, banks and other government buildings.
The first death related to the protests occurred on Wednesday night, when a member of the Iranian Basij militia group was killed and 13 others injured in the city of Qudasht in Lorestan province, state media said. Fars news agency aired footage of a police member being treated after being set on fire by demonstrators.
Paramilitary Basij militias are often deployed by the regime to quell protests.
The prosecutor in Kudasht announced on Thursday that 20 people had been arrested during the protests, state news agency Tasnim reported.
According to Fars news agency, authorities arrested 30 people in Tehran province’s Marad province for “disturbing public order.” The agency quoted county official Mansour Saleki as saying those arrested were “abusing residents’ legal right to protest.”
According to the Fars news agency, investigations showed that many of the arrested protesters were from neighboring counties, Saleki said.
This week, shopkeepers, bazaar traders, students and others took to the streets in several Iranian cities chanting anti-regime slogans, citing the economic situation as the currency hit record lows.
The protests were the largest since nationwide riots in 2022, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Martha Amini in police custody after she was arrested on suspicion of wearing a headscarf inappropriately.
In a post on Wednesday, the US State Department said it was concerned about reports that protesters were facing “intimidation, violence, and arrest” and called on authorities to end the crackdown.
“First the bazaar. Then the students. Now the whole country. Iranians are united. We have different lives, but we have one demand: that our voices and rights be respected,” the State Department said in a post on X’s Farsi-language account.
The protests mark the latest chapter in Iran’s growing discontent, as the population has quietly regained public and personal freedoms through acts of disorderly defiance, albeit limited so far.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
