Iran’s widening protests sparked by economic pressures spread into rural provinces, with authorities reporting at least seven people killed, according to the Associated Press on Thursday.
The fatalities were reported across four cities and largely affected areas home to Iran’s Lur ethnic group. AP reported that two people were killed on Wednesday and five on Thursday, with deaths involving both security forces and protesters.
AP said the most intense violence appeared to strike Azna, a city in Iran’s Lorestan province, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Tehran. Online videos purported to show objects in the street ablaze and gunfire echoing as people shouted: “Shameless! Shameless!”
In Azna, AP reported that the semiofficial Fars news agency said three people were killed. AP added that other media, including pro-reform outlets, cited Fars for the report while state-run media did not fully acknowledge the violence there or elsewhere, and it was not clear why there was not more reporting, noting that journalists had faced arrest over their reporting in 2022.
AP reported that in Lordegan, in Iran’s Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, online videos showed demonstrators gathered on a street with gunfire in the background, and that the footage matched known features of Lordegan, about 470 kilometers (290 miles) south of Tehran. Fars, citing an anonymous official, said two people were killed during the protests Thursday, and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran said two people were killed there and identified them as demonstrators. The center also shared a still image that appeared to show an Iranian police officer wearing body armor and wielding a shotgun.
In Fuladshahr in Iran’s Isfahan province, AP said state media reported the death of a man Thursday while activist groups attributed it to the police opening fire on demonstrators.
AP also reported on a separate demonstration Wednesday night that led to the death of a 21-year-old volunteer in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force. IRNA reported the Basij member’s death but did not elaborate, while the Student News Network—believed to be close to the Basij—directly blamed demonstrators for the death, citing comments from Saeed Pourali, a deputy governor in Lorestan province. Pourali said, “The protests that have occurred are due to economic pressures, inflation and currency fluctuations, and are an expression of livelihood concerns,” adding that “The voices of citizens must be heard carefully and tactfully,” while people must “not allow their demands to be strained by profit-seeking individuals.”
The protests took place in Kouhdasht, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Tehran, AP said. Local prosecutor Kazem Nazari told the judiciary’s Mizan news agency that 20 people had been arrested after the protests and that calm had returned to the city.
AP reported that Iran’s civilian government under President Masoud Pezeshkian has signaled it wants to negotiate with protesters, though Pezeshkian acknowledged there was not much it can do as the rial rapidly depreciated, with $1 now costing some 1.4 million rials. State television separately reported arrests of seven people, including five it described as monarchists and two others it said had linked to European-based groups, and it said security forces confiscated 100 smuggled pistols without elaborating.
The unrest came amid national tensions that Iranian leaders were also facing after Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June, AP reported. Iran has said it is no longer enriching uranium at any site, and AP said U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran against reconstituting its atomic program, with talks not yet happening.