At least 6 people have been reported killed during protests in Iran due to the economic crisis

Expansion exhibitions Clashes fueled by Iran’s faltering economy spread Thursday to the Islamic Republic’s rural provinces, killing at least six people in the first reported deaths between security forces and protesters, authorities said.

The death may mark the beginning of a more severe response by the Iranian regime to the demonstrations, which have subsided in the capital, Tehran, but have escalated elsewhere. The deaths, one on Wednesday and five on Thursday, occurred in three cities where Lurs live in Iran.

The protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when a 22-year-old died Mahsa Amini in police custody, protests began across the country. However, protests have yet to take place across the country and have not yet been as intense as those associated with the death of Amini, who was arrested for not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, as the authorities prefer.

Recent protests, centered on economic issues, have heard protesters chanting against Iran’s democratic regime. The country’s leaders are still reeling after Israel launched a 12-day war against the country in June. The US also bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities during the war.

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

“We stand with the Iranian people in the streets of Tehran and across the country as they protest against an authoritarian regime that has brought them nothing but economic collapse and war,” he said.

The most intense violence was seen in Azna, a city in Iran’s Lorestan province, about 185 kilometers southwest of Tehran. There, online videos purportedly show street objects in flames and gunshots ring out as people shout: “Shameless! Shameless!”

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that three people died. Other media outlets, including pro-revolutionary channels, cited Fars for the report while the state-run media did not fully acknowledge the violence that took place or elsewhere. It was not clear why more of the unrest was not reported, but journalists were facing arrest for their reporting in 2022.

In Lordegan, a city in Iran’s Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces, online videos show protesters gathering in the street, with the sound of gunfire in the background. The images resembled the known features of Lordegan, about 290 miles south of Tehran.

Fars, quoting an official whose name has been withheld, said two people died during the protests on Thursday.

The Washington-based Abdorrahman Borouand Center for Human Rights in Iran said two people were killed there, identifying the dead as protesters. It also shared a still image of what appeared to be an Iranian police officer, wearing body armor and holding a gun.

In 2019, the area around Lordegan saw widespread protests and protesters reportedly vandalized government buildings after a report that people there were infected with the AIDS virus from contaminated needles used in a local clinic.

A separate protest on Wednesday night reportedly resulted in the death of a 21-year-old volunteer in the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia.

The state-run news agency IRNA reported the death of the security guard but did not elaborate. An Iranian news agency called the Student News Network, believed to be close to the Basij, blamed protesters for the member’s death, citing Saeed Pourali, deputy governor of Lorestan province.

The security guard was “martyred … at the hands of rioters during protests in the city to protect public order,” he reportedly said. Another 13 Basij members and police were injured, he added.

“The protests that took place due to economic pressure, inflation and currency fluctuations, also show concern about livelihoods,” said Pourali. “Citizens’ voices must be heard carefully and intelligently, but people must not allow their demands to be suppressed by people seeking profit.”

The protests took place in the city of Kouhdasht, which is more than 250 miles southwest of Tehran. The local prosecutor Kazem Nazari said that 20 people were arrested after the protests and that peace has returned to the city, reports Mizan.

The Iranian government under revolutionary President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to show that it wants to negotiate with the protesters. However, Pezeshkian admitted that there is not much he can do as the Iranian currency is rapidly depreciating, with $1 now worth 1.4 million rials.

Meanwhile, state television separately reported the arrest of seven people, including five it described as kingpins and two others it said were linked to groups based in Europe. State TV also said another operation saw security forces confiscate 100 smuggled guns, without elaborating.

Iran’s democratic government declared Wednesday a public holiday across the country, citing the cold weather, possibly as a plea to get people out of the capital for the long weekend. The Iranian weekend is Thursday and Friday, while Saturday marks Imam Ali’s birthday, another holiday for many.