‘12 killed’ as Iran protests continue
NATIONWIDE VIOLENCE ESCALATES
NATIONWIDE protests in Iran have seen their most violent night as “armed protesters” tried to overrun military bases and police stations before security forces repelled them, bringing the death toll in the unrest to at least 12, state television reported.
The demonstrations, the largest to strike Iran since its disputed 2009 presidential election, began on Thursday in Mashhad over economic issues and have since expanded to several cities, with some protesters chanting against the government and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hundreds of people have been arrested.
Iranian state television aired footage of a ransacked private bank, broken windows, overturned cars and a fire engine that appeared to have been set ablaze.
It reported that clashes on Sunday night killed 10 people.
“Some armed protesters tried to take over some police stations and military bases but faced serious resistance from security forces,” state TV reported.
It did not say where those attacks occurred.
Later yesterday, state TV said clashes killed six people in the western town of Tuyserkan, 295 kilometres (185 miles) south west of Tehran. It said clashes in the town of Shahinshahr, 315 kilometres (195 miles) south of Tehran, killed three more. It did not say where the 10th person was killed.
Earlier yesterday the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Hedayatollah Khademi, a representative for the town of Izeh, as saying two people died there on Sunday night.
He said the cause of death was not immediately known, though authorities later described one of the deaths as the result of a personal dispute.