Widespread protests spurred by Iran's faltering economy expanded into the Islamic Republic's rural districts on Thursday, killing at least six people in the first fatalities involving police forces and protestors, according to authorities The murders may signal the beginning of a more aggressive response by Iran's theocracy to the rallies, which have paused in the capital, Tehran, but grown elsewhere. The killings, one on Wednesday and five on Thursday, occurred in three cities largely populated by Iran's Lur ethnic community.
The protests in Iran have grown to its largest since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police detention sparked widespread rallies. However, the rallies have yet to be widespread and have not been as severe as those surrounding Amini's death, who was held for not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, in accordance with authorities.
The most serious violence appeared to target Azna, a city in Iran's Lorestan province, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Tehran. There, online footage reported to show objects in the street on fire and gunfire booming as crowds chanted, "Shameless! Shameless!"
According to the semi-official Fars news agency, three persons were killed. Other media, including pro-reform publications, cited Fars for the news, while state-run media failed to note the violence there or elsewhere. It was unclear why there wasn't more coverage of the upheaval, but journalists were arrested for their reporting in 2022.
Online videos from Lordegan, a city in Iran's Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari region, showed demonstrators assembled on a roadway, with shooting in the background. The footage matched known features of Lordegan, around 470 kilometres (290 miles) south of Tehran.
Fars, citing an unidentified official, reported that two individuals were murdered during Thursday's protests.
The Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre for Human Rights in Iran, based in Washington, reported that two individuals were killed there, and that the victims were demonstrators. It also included a still photograph of what seemed to be an Iranian police officer wearing body armour and brandishing a shotgun.
In 2019, major protests erupted in the Lordegan area, with demonstrators reportedly damaging government buildings after a report claimed that people there had been infected with HIV through dirty needles used at a local health care clinic.
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