At least 36 people killed during Iran protests, rights group says

At least 36 people have been killed during the last 10 days of protests across Iran, a human rights group has said.

The foreign-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that 34 of those confirmed killed were protesters and two were affiliated with security forces.

Iranian authorities have not published an official death toll but said three security personnel have been killed. BBC Persian has so far confirmed the deaths and identities of 20 people.

HRANA also said that more than 60 protesters had been injured and 2,076 arrested during the unrest, which was sparked by an economic crisis and has spread to 27 of 31 provinces.

On Tuesday evening, Iranian semi-official media reported that a policeman was shot dead by what they called "rioters" in Malekshahi in the western province of Ilam, where there have been widespread protests and a violent crackdown by security forces in recent days.

Earlier, security forces were filmed firing tear gas during clashes with protesters who chanted slogans against Iran's clerical rulers at Tehran's Grand Bazaar.

The protests began on 28 December, when shopkeepers took to the streets of the capital to express their anger at another sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency against the US dollar on the open market.

The rial has sunk to a record low over the past year and inflation has soared to 40% as sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme squeeze an economy also weakened by mismanagement and corruption.

University students soon joined the protests and they began spreading to other cities.

On Friday, President Donald Trump threatened US intervention if Iranian security forces killed peaceful protesters, declaring: "We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

The following day, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who has ultimate power - said that "rioters should be put in their place" and vowed not to "yield to the enemy".

Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei echoed the comments on Monday, saying authorities would listen those who "legitimately and rightly have concerns about their livelihood" but also show no leniency towards "rioters".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was "deeply saddened by the reported loss of life and injuries resulting from clashes between security forces and protesters", and "underscores the need to prevent any further casualties", his spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

"All individuals must be allowed to protest peacefully and express their grievances," he added.

In the videos from Tuesday's protest in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, which were obtained by BBC Persian, a large crowd gathered on a covered street can be heard chanting "Death to the dictator" - a reference to Khamenei.

Later, the protesters are seen running away from a cloud of tear gas and shouting "Dishonourable" at a group of riot police nearby. Footage filmed from the roof of a neighbouring building shows the crowd fleeing the bazaar as more tear gas is fired.

Iran's hardline, semi-official Fars news agency said "sporadic gatherings" focused on price increases took place around the bazaar, and that police dispersed them into nearby alleyways.

Other videos from the capital showed demonstrations at the Yaft Abad market in southern Tehran and Caterpillar shopping mall in the southwest of the capital, as well as protesters gathered at the Azari junction.

In the evening, footage verified by BBC Persian showed a large crowd of protesters moving through the town of Abdanan, in Ilam province.

In one clip, a group of police officers standing on a rooftop are seen waving to people calling for their "support". Another clip showed protesters tearing open bags of rice and throwing the contents into the air.

At the same time, the semi-official Fars news agency said a police officer had been killed after being "directly hit by rioters' bullets" during a clash in the Malekshahi County area of Ilam, about 80km (50 miles) to the south-east.

Footage from Malekshahi posted earlier in the day appeared to show a bank on fire and men celebrating beside burning furniture, papers and tyres.

On Monday, President Masoud Pezeshkian's office said he had ordered the interior ministry to form a special delegation to investigate the unrest in Ilam.

It followed widespread outrage over video footage released on Sunday that appeared to show security forces storming the Imam Khomeini Hospital in the predominantly Kurdish city of Ilam, where activists said wounded protesters had been sheltering.

Amnesty International said on Tuesday that it had information that Revolutionary Guards and police special forces "used shotguns and fired tear gas into the grounds, smashed glass doors to gain access, and beat those inside, including medical workers".

"The Iranian security forces' attack... violates international law and exposes yet again how far the Iranian authorities are willing to go to crush dissent," the human rights group warned.

The US state department's Persian-language account on X called the raid on the hospital a "clear crime against humanity".

Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said the protesters being treated at the hospital were wounded when security forces opened fire on a demonstration outside a government compound in Malekshahi on Saturday.

It has said that five protesters were also killed in that incident, including a retired brigadier-general. Semi-official media have said three people, including a member of the security forces, were killed when "rioters" tried to enter a security facility.

Hengaw has also said that it has so far verified the killing of at least 27 people during the protests, including five children.

Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based group, has reported that at least 27 protesters, including five children, have been killed by security forces in eight provinces.

"The Islamic Republic has a well-documented record of bloody repression and mass killings of protesters in past uprisings. Now, as the regime is more unstable than ever and seriously fears for its survival, there is a grave concern that the scale of repression this time may be even more violent and widespread than before," its director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said.

It is difficult to independently verify the casualty figures because the BBC and other independent international media are either not allowed to report from inside Iran or, if granted permission, face severe restrictions on their movements.

Last week, human rights activists and relatives disputed the authorities' account of the killing of a 21-year-old man called Amir-Hessam Khodayari Fard in Kuhdasht, in Lorestan province.

State media and the Revolutionary Guards claimed that he was a member of the loyalist Basij paramilitary force who they said was killed by "opportunistic elements affiliated with the enemy" on Wednesday while carrying out his "duties to maintain calm and order".

However, Hengaw said Khodayari Fard was taking part in a protest that day and was killed by security forces.

At his funeral on Friday, his father told mourners that he had not been a member of the Basij. Mourners also chased away uniformed security personnel after they tried to carry the coffin.

Iranian authorities have been accused of falsely claiming that killed protesters were members of the Basij and the security forces during previous periods of unrest.

The current protests have been the most widespread since an uprising in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

More than 550 people were killed and 20,000 detained in a violent crackdown on those protests by security forces, according to human rights groups.