On Monday, anti-government protests in Tehran and other cities of the country renewed for the fifth day in a row, while authorities confirmed the killing of a policeman by a demonstrator in the city of Najafabad.
In the first official announcement of the deaths of security forces during the wave of protests, which permeated Iran, Iranian news agencies reported that a policeman was killed and three others were wounded by a bullet fired by a demonstrator in the city of Najafabad in Isfahan province, explaining that the demonstrator used a gun Hunting in his attack.
The pro-government Iranian Mehr news agency later said two Basij units were killed by protesters in the same city this evening.
The Basij is a non-regular paramilitary mobilization force composed of civilian volunteers and administered by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Two people were shot dead by protesters in the city of Khomeini Shahr in the same province on Tuesday night, the official news agencies quoted authorities as saying.
The official toll of civilian casualties during protests since the outbreak of the unrest has risen to 17, as well as three members of the security forces.
Earlier, the governor of the city of Hamdan, Shahrakhi, the center of the country killed three demonstrators during protests on Sunday night in the city of Tuiskran, adding that the local authorities have arrested people who “broke through the demonstrators and caused the destruction of public property and the killing of demonstrators.”
Meanwhile, the semi-official local news agency Raja News reported that five people were killed on Monday night to Tuesday during an attack by demonstrators on a building belonging to the authorities of the city of Qahdrejan in Isfahan province.
In the meantime, protests resumed today in the Iranian capital Tehran, and social networking activists posted videos showing protesters in the city holding anti-government slogans, including “Death to the dictator” and “Death to Khamenei.”
According to the agency “Fars” government that a group of not more than 20 people have blocked traffic near the Revolution Square in central Tehran, noting that the security forces arrested one of the leaders of the demonstrations there.
In turn, the Ministry of Security and Intelligence announced the arrest of several “vandals and rioters” during the demonstrations, without specifying the number or the day they were arrested.
But the official information issued earlier indicates that the number of protesters, arrested in the Iranian capital, exceeds 400 people.
The protests, which sometimes resulted in clashes between protesters and security forces, took place in several other Iranian cities, including the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iran, the cities of Lorestan, Kermanshah in the west, Shiraz in southwestern Iran, the central city of Qazvin, in the north, the Burgund in the east.
Iran has witnessed five days of anti-government demonstrations in which thousands of people took part and started from the city of Mashhad, which is an important religious center in the country, to expand later to the capital Tehran and other Iranian cities to denounce the exorbitant prices, corruption and government policies, Hassan Rouhani.
Official information announced by the Iranian authorities on television said 15 people were killed as a result of clashes between demonstrators and security forces in different cities of the country, but activists in social networking sites say the death toll exceeds the figure.
The government has confirmed that police have arrested hundreds of protesters since the unrest erupted, accusing groups of protesters of resorting to violence and vandalism of public property.
The protesters held banners and signs, including “Death to a Rohani” and “Death to the Dictator”.
The Iranian authorities, including President Rouhani, stressed the right of the people to demonstrate and criticize without departing from the legal framework, calling for calm and joint action with the government to resolve the outstanding problems, while carrying foreign parties described as “enemies” responsibility for the escalation of tension in the country.