Iran: 731 banks, 140 govt sites torched by protesters
PROTEST REPORT CARD Over 70 petrol stations burned, rues govt; Amnesty says 143 people killed
GENEVA/TEHRAN: As many as 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in recent unrest in Iran, interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in remarks published by the IRNA news agency on Wednesday.
More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 petrol stations were also burned, he said, without specifying where the attacks took place.
According to IRNA, Rahmani Fazli also said up to 200,000 people took part nationwide in the unrest that began on November 15 after the announcement of gasoline price hikes.
London-based Amnesty International said on Monday it had recorded at least 143 protesters killed in the protests, the worst anti-government unrest in Iran since authorities put down the “Green Revolution” demonstrations against election fraud in 2009.
Iran has rejected Amnesty’s death toll. It says several people, including members of the security forces, were killed and more than 1,000 people arrested. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said the number of arrests was probably closer to 4,000.
The protests quickly turned political, with protesters calling on top leaders to step down. The government has blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring up the street unrest.
The protests came as new US sanctions imposed this year cut off nearly all of Iran’s oil exports, and as similar protest movements erupted in Iraq and Lebanon against governments that include heavily armed pro-Iran factions.
SIX PROTESTERS KILLED IN IRAQ
BAGHDAD: Six protesters were killed by security forces who fired live rounds in Baghdad and southern Iraq amid ongoing violence and days of sit-ins and road closures, Iraqi officials said.
Two protesters were killed and 35 wounded when security forces fired live rounds to disperse them from Baghdad’s Rasheed Street, officials said.
The street, which is adjacent to the strategic Ahrar bridge, has been the focus of violence for a full week, with near daily incidents of deaths as a result of security forces using live ammunition and tear gas to repel demonstrators from advancing beyond a concrete barrier. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Demonstrations have raged in Baghdad and across the mostly
Shiite southern Iraq since October 1. The protesters accuse the Shiite-led government of being hopelessly corrupt and complain of poor public services and high unemployment.
At least 350 people have been killed and thousands wounded in what has become the largest grassroots protest movement in Iraq’s modern history.
Protesters are occupying three key bridges in central Baghdad Jumhuriya, Ahrar and Sinar - in a stand-off with security forces.
On Wednesday, they also burned tyres on Ahrar Bridge to block forces from accessing the area.
In Karbala, four protesters were killed by live fire from security forces in the previous 24 hours. Three of the anti-government protesters were killed when security forces fired live rounds to disperse crowds in the holy city of Karbala late Tuesday, security and medical officials said. One protester died of wounds suffered when a tear gas canister struck him in clashes earlier in the day.