Two dead in clashes between protesters and security forces in Iran

Two people have been reported killed in growing unrest in Iran on the fifth day of protests over the soaring cost of living.

The semi-official Fars news agency and human rights group Hengaw said people died in clashes between protesters and security forces in the town of Lordegan in southwestern Iran.

On Thursday, videos posted on social media showed cars being set on fire during fights between protesters and security forces.

Many protesters called for an end to the rule of the country’s supreme leader. Some have also called for a return to the monarchy.

Thursday marks the fifth day of protests in cities across the country, sparked by the currency collapse.

Videos verified by BBC Persian show protests taking place on Thursday in the central town of Lordegan, in the capital Tehran and in Marvdasht, in the southern province of Fars.

Fars reported that in Lordegan two people were killed, citing a well-informed official. The report does not specify whether those killed were protesters or members of the security forces.

Rights group Hengaw said the two killed were protesters, naming them Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh.

BBC Persian has not been able to independently verify these deaths.

Separately, state media said a security force member linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was killed in clashes with protesters on Wednesday. night in the town of Kudasht, in the western province of Lorestan.

The BBC has not been able to verify this information and protesters claim the man was one of them and was shot dead by security forces.

Thirteen other police officers and Basij members were injured by stone throwing in the area, according to state media.

Schools, universities and public institutions were closed across the country on Wednesday after authorities declared a public holiday in an apparent bid to quell unrest.

This was apparently to save energy due to the cold, although many Iranians saw it as an attempt to contain the protests.

They started in Tehran – among traders angered by yet another sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency against the US dollar on the open market.

By Tuesday, university students were involved and they had spread to several cities, with people chanting against the country’s religious leaders.

These protests are the most widespread since the 2022 uprising sparked by the death in detention of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused by the moral police of not wearing her veil correctly. But they were not of the same magnitude.

To avoid any escalation, reinforced security is now provided in the neighborhoods of Tehran where the demonstrations began.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government would listen to protesters’ “legitimate demands.”

But Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad also warned that any attempt to create instability would result in what he called a “decisive response.”