The scope of Iran’s ongoing unrest, the worst in years, remains unclear as protesters in at least a dozen cities — venting anger over social repression and growing crises in the country — continue to face security forces and paramilitaries. An anchor on Iran’s state television said the death toll from the mass protests could reach 17 on Thursday, but did not elaborate or say how the number was arrived at. “Unfortunately, 17 people and police officers who were at the scene of these events lost their lives,” the presenter said, adding that official statistics would be released later. Widespread shutdowns of Instagram and WhatsApp, which protesters use to share information about the government’s rolling crackdown on dissent, continued on Thursday. Authorities also appeared to cut off Internet access to the outside world, a tactic rights activists say the government often uses during times of unrest. In a country where radio and television stations are already controlled by the state and journalists regularly face the threat of arrest, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard urged the judiciary on Thursday to prosecute “anyone spreading fake news and rumours” on social media about the unrest . The protests in Iran began as an emotional outburst over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code. Her death has drawn strong condemnation from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. Police say she died of a heart attack and was not abused, but her family has disputed that. Independent UN-affiliated experts said Thursday that reports suggested he was severely beaten by ethics police, without offering evidence. They called for an impartial investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable. The protests have evolved over the past four days into an open challenge to the government, with women removing and burning their headscarves in the streets and Iranians setting trash cans on fire and calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic itself. “Death to the dictator!” was a common cry at the protests. Demonstrations rocked university campuses in Tehran and far western cities such as Kermanshah. Although widespread, the unrest appears to differ from previous rounds of nationwide protests fueled by pocketbook issues as Iran’s economy falters under heavy US sanctions. The unrest that broke out in 2019 over the government’s steep hike in petrol prices mobilized the working-class masses in small towns. Hundreds were killed as security forces cracked down on what rights groups said was the deadliest violence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s state media this week reported protests by hundreds of people in at least 13 cities, including the capital, Tehran. Videos online show security forces firing tear gas and water cannons to break up the protests. London-based Amnesty International said officers also threw pellets and metal pellets and beat protesters with batons. Footage on social media from the northern city of Tabriz showed a young man allegedly shot by security forces bleeding in the street as protesters shouted for help. At least nine people have been killed in the clashes, according to an AP count based on statements from Iran’s state and semi-official media. In a statement Thursday, the Guard blamed the unrest on “enemies of Iran,” saying “their uprising will fail.” In Amini’s home province in the northwest, Kurdistan, the provincial police chief said four protesters were killed by live fire. In Kermanshah, the prosecutor said two protesters were killed by opposition groups, insisting the bullets were not fired by Iranian security forces. Some protesters appear to have targeted security forces. Three men linked to the Basij, a volunteer force under the Guard, were killed in clashes in the cities of Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad, semi-official media reported, bringing the death toll recognized by officials to at least nine on both sides. In Mashhad, state news agency IRNA reported that a police officer was hospitalized with serious burns after protesters tried to set him on fire. Independent UN experts said the clashes killed at least eight people, including a woman and a 16-year-old boy, while dozens more were injured and arrested. The conflicts have left traces of destruction. In Mazandaran province, along the Caspian Sea coast, angry mobs destroyed or set fire to more than 40 state properties and injured 76 security officers, Deputy Governor Rouhollah Solgi said on Thursday. As the protests spread, authorities shut down the Internet in parts of the country, according to NetBlocks, a London-based group that monitors Internet access, describing the restrictions as the most severe since mass protests in November 2019. Iran has faced waves of protests in the recent past, mainly over a long-running economic crisis exacerbated by Western sanctions linked to its nuclear program. Iranians also blame government corruption and mismanagement as commodity prices soar, the currency shrinks in value and unemployment remains high. The Biden administration and European allies have been working to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in which Iran curbed its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, but talks have been deadlocked for months. From New York, where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour said she planned to confront Raisi about the protests roiling Iran at what would have been his first US-based interview. But Amanpour tweeted that when the interview was about to start, Raisi didn’t show up. An aide said the president refused to take part unless she wore a headscarf, given the “situation in Iran”. The Iranian government did not immediately acknowledge her account. “I could not agree to this unprecedented and unexpected treaty,” the British-Iranian presenter wrote alongside a photo of Raisi’s empty chair. “As the protests continue in Iran and people are being killed, it would be an important time to speak with President Raisi.”
