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Two people are reported to have been killed during growing unrest in Iran on the fifth day of protests over the soaring cost of living.<\/p>\n
Both the semi-official Fars news agency and human rights group, Hengaw, said people had died during clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Lordegan, in south-western Iran.<\/p>\n
On Thursday videos posted on social media showed cars set on fire during running battles between protesters and security forces. <\/p>\n
Many protesters have called for ending the rule of the country’s supreme leader. Some have also called for a return to the monarchy.<\/p>\n
Thursday marks the fifth day of protests in cities across the country, sparked by a currency collapse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Videos verified by BBC Persian show protests in the central city of Lordegan, the capital Tehran and Marvdasht in the southern Fars province taking place on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Fars reported that in Lordegan two people were killed, citing an informed official. The report did not specify whether those killed were protesters or members of the security forces.<\/p>\n
Rights group Hengaw said the two killed were protesters, naming them as Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh.<\/p>\n
BBC Persian has not been able to independently verify the deaths.<\/p>\n
Separately state media said a member of the security forces linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was killed in clashes with protesters on Wednesday <\/b>night in the city of Kudasht, in the western Lorestan province. <\/p>\n
The BBC has not been able to verify this and protesters say the man was one of their number and was shot dead by the security forces. <\/p>\n
A further 13 police officers and Basij members were injured by stone throwing in the area, the state media report said.<\/p>\n
Schools, universities and public institutions were closed across the country on Wednesday after a bank holiday was declared by authorities in an apparent effort to quell the unrest. <\/p>\n
It was ostensibly to save energy because of the cold weather, though it was seen by many Iranians as an attempt to contain the protests.<\/p>\n
They began in Tehran – among shopkeepers angered by another sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency against the US dollar on the open market.<\/p>\n
By Tuesday, university students were involved and they had spread to several cities, with people chanting against the country’s clerical rulers.<\/p>\n
The protests have been the most widespread since an uprising in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was accused by morality police of not wearing her veil properly. But they have not been on the same scale.<\/p>\n
To prevent any escalation, tight security is now reported in the areas of Tehran where the demonstrations began.<\/p>\n
President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government will listen to the “legitimate demands” of the protesters.<\/p>\n
But the prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, has also warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with what he called a “decisive response”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n