Nine Killed, Hundreds Arrested In 6th Day Of Iran Protests, Supreme Leader Blames “Foreign Enemies”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Tue, 01/02/2018
At least 9 more people were killed and over 100 arrested overnight as unrest and protests across Iran entered a sixth day, the Iranian media reported. On Tuesday, Iran’s supreme leader accused “enemies of Iran” of orchestrating the demonstrations and stirring unrest across the country as a crackdown intensified against anti-government demonstrations that began last week.
Among the killed were six protesters who had attempted to steal guns from a police station in the town of Qahdarijan, Iranian state TV said, cited by AP. Another two people were killed in the town of Khomeinishahr, and the ninth fatality was a member of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the town of Najafabad. The overall death toll after six days of unrest has reached 20 people, according to state TV.
Meanwhile, about 450 people have been arrested in the last three days, security deputy governor of Tehran Ali Asghar Nasserbakht told ILNA news agency. About 100 of them were arrested on Monday, he added. The arrests accelerated after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard took over Tehran security, as reported overnight although according to Naserbakht, the situation in Tehran was under control and police has not asked for the help of the Revolutionary Guards special forces.
Having started in the twilight days of 2017, with virtually no warning, pro-and anti-government demonstrations have been taking place in Iran since Thursday. Economic hardship and alleged corruption mostly prompted the anti-government rallies. On Monday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to double efforts to resolve Iran’s economic problems, unemployment and inflation, Fars agency reported.
Later on Monday Rouhani also said that the protests may have been partially stirred up by external forces interested in destabilizing the country. “The enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran are angry with the glory, success, and the progress of the Iranian nation; and they have vowed to bring the regional troubles to Iran,” he said, according to the Iranian Mehr news agency.
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