DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Demonstrations sparked by Iran’s economic woes spread to the Islamic republic’s rural provinces on Thursday, authorities said, with at least three deaths reported among the first deaths by security forces and protesters.
The deaths may mark the beginning of a harsher reaction from Iran’s theocracy to the demonstrations, which have slowed in momentum in the capital, Tehran, but gained momentum elsewhere. One person was killed on Wednesday and two on Thursday, with the deaths occurring in two cities mainly inhabited by Iran’s Lul ethnic group.
The protests have become Iran’s largest since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahesa Amini in police custody sparked nationwide demonstrations. However, the demonstrations have not spread across the country and have been less intense than those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained for failing to wear a headscarf as required by authorities.
In the city of Lodgan in Iran’s Chahamahal and Bakhtiari provinces, online videos showed demonstrators gathering on the streets, with gunshots heard in the background. The video matches known features of Lodgen, about 470 kilometers (290 miles) south of Tehran.
The semi-official Fars news agency cited an anonymous official as saying two people were killed during Thursday’s protests.
The Washington-based Abdulrahman Borumand Center for Human Rights in Iran said two people were killed there, demonstrators. It also shared a still image of what appeared to be an Iranian police officer wearing body armor and brandishing a shotgun.
Iranian government media did not immediately report the violence in Lodgen.
There were widespread protests in the area around Lodgan in 2019, with demonstrators reportedly vandalizing government buildings following reports that local residents contracted HIV from contaminated needles used at a local medical clinic.
“Protests fueled by economic pressures”
Another demonstration on Wednesday night reportedly resulted in the death of a 21-year-old volunteer from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Basij unit.
The state-run Islamic News Agency reported the guard member’s death but did not elaborate. The Iranian news agency “Student News Network”, which is believed to be close to Basij, quoted the deputy governor of Iran’s Lorestan Province, Said Pralli, as making comments directly blaming the demonstrators for the death of the guard member.
According to reports, the guard member “died at the hands of rioters…during protests to defend public order in the city.” Thirteen other Basij Party members and police officers were injured, he added.
“The protests that took place were due to economic pressures, inflation and currency fluctuations and were an expression of concerns about people’s livelihoods,” Prali said. “Citizens’ voices must be listened to carefully and skillfully, but people’s demands must not be limited by mercenary individuals.”
The protest took place in the city of Kudasht, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Tehran. Local prosecutor Kazem Nazari said 20 people had been arrested following the protests and calm had returned to the city, the judicial agency Mizan news agency reported.
Currency devaluation sparks protests
Iran’s civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal that it wants to negotiate with the protesters. Pezeshkian admitted, however, that there was little he could do as Iran’s currency, the rial, was rapidly depreciating, with $1 currently equivalent to about 1.4 million rials.
Meanwhile, state television separately reported the arrests of seven people, five of whom were described as monarchists and two others believed to have links to European groups. State television also said security forces had confiscated 100 smuggled pistols in a separate operation, without elaborating.
Citing cold weather, Iran’s theocratic government declared Wednesday a public holiday across much of the country, possibly to get people out of the capital for a long weekend. Weekends in Iran are Thursday and Friday, and Saturday is Imam Ali’s birthday, another holiday for many.
The protests were rooted in economic issues, and demonstrators also chanted slogans against Iran’s theocracy. The country’s leaders are still reeling from the aftermath of Israel’s 12-day war against the country in June. The United States also bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities during the war.
Iran says it is no longer enriching uranium anywhere in the country, seeking to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program to ease sanctions. However, those talks have not yet taken place as US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned Tehran not to rebuild its atomic program.
