Protests in Iran enter second week with new deadly clashes reported by rights groups, as US warns of consequences if demonstrators are killed
PARIS: New deadly clashes between protesters and security forces erupted in Iran as demonstrations entered their second week, rights groups and local media reported on Sunday.
The protests, which began with a shopkeepers’ strike in Tehran on December 28, have left at least 12 people dead according to a toll based on official reports.
Overnight protests featuring slogans criticising the Islamic republic’s clerical authorities were reported in Tehran, Shiraz, and western Iran, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency monitor said.
These are the most significant demonstrations in Iran since the 2022-2023 movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
The latest protests have been concentrated in western areas with large Kurdish and Lor minority populations.
They present a new challenge for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following a 12-day war with Israel in June that damaged nuclear infrastructure.
With the government under pressure to show a response to economic pain, spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said citizens would receive a monthly allowance equivalent to $7 for four months.
US President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that Iran would get “hit very hard” by the United States if more protesters die.
“We’re watching it very closely,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The Norway-based Hengaw rights group said Revolutionary Guards opened fire on protesters in Malekshahi county in western Ilam province on Saturday, killing four members of Iran’s Kurdish minority.
The group said it was checking reports that two other people had been killed, with dozens more wounded.
It accused authorities of raiding the main hospital in Ilam city to seize the bodies of the protesters.
The Iran Human Rights NGO gave an identical toll of four dead and 30 wounded after “security forces attacked the protests” in Malekshahi.
Both organisations posted footage of what appeared to be bloodied corpses on the ground, in videos verified by AFP.
Iranian media said a member of the security forces was killed in a clash with “rioters” who attempted to storm a police office, with “two assailants” killed.
In Tehran, sporadic demonstrations on Saturday night were reported in eastern, western and southern districts, the Fars news agency said.
On Sunday, the vast majority of shops were open in the capital although streets appeared less crowded than usual.
Riot police and security forces were deployed at major intersections, AFP observed.
Images verified by AFP showed Iranian security forces using tear gas to disperse a group of protesters who gathered in central Tehran during the day on Sunday.
HRANA said that over the last week at least 582 people have been arrested.
Hengaw said almost all of those killed were from ethnic minorities, chiefly Kurds and Lors.
Abroad, several hundred people took part in two separate rallies in Paris on Sunday to support the protesters, following similar actions in London a day earlier.
