Growing unrest across Iran has claimed more lives as nationwide protests entered their fifth day, fueled by public anger over soaring living costs and the rapid collapse of the national currency.
Semi-official Fars news agency and Kurdish rights group Hengaw reported that at least six people were killed during clashes between protesters and security forces in several western and southwestern cities.
According to Fars, two people were killed in the city of Lordegan, located in south-western Iran, following violent confrontations on Thursday evening. The agency cited informed officials but did not clarify whether the victims were protesters or security personnel.
Hengaw, however, identified the two individuals killed in Lordegan as protesters, naming them as Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh. The BBC Persian service has said it has been unable to independently verify these claims.
Fars also reported that three people were killed in the western city of Azna, in Lorestan province, while another person died in Kouhdasht, also in Lorestan. Details surrounding the circumstances of these deaths remain unclear.
Separately, Iranian state media reported that a member of the security forces affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was killed during clashes with protesters in Kouhdasht on Wednesday night.
Protesters, however, disputed the official account, claiming the individual was a demonstrator who had been shot dead by security forces. The BBC said it could not independently verify either version of events.
State media further reported that at least 13 police officers and Basij militia members were injured by stone-throwing during clashes in the area, underscoring the growing intensity of the unrest.
Videos shared widely on social media and verified by BBC Persian showed cars set ablaze and running battles between protesters and security forces in several cities, including Lordegan, Tehran, and Marvdasht in Fars province.
Chants heard during demonstrations reflected unusually bold political demands, with many protesters calling for an end to the rule of Iran’s supreme leader. Some went further, openly calling for a return to monarchy.
The protests began earlier this week in Tehran, initially led by shopkeepers and merchants angered by a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar on the open market.
As the currency slid further, public frustration spilled onto the streets, drawing in university students by Tuesday and rapidly spreading to cities across the country.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against Iran’s clerical leadership, reflecting broader dissatisfaction with economic mismanagement, corruption, and political repression.
In an apparent attempt to contain the unrest, authorities declared a sudden bank holiday on Wednesday, ordering the closure of schools, universities, and public institutions nationwide.
Officials claimed the closures were intended to conserve energy amid cold weather, but many Iranians viewed the move as an effort to limit public gatherings and disrupt protests.
Despite the measures, reports of demonstrations continued to emerge from multiple regions, indicating the limits of the government’s containment strategy.
Security has since been tightened in parts of Tehran where the protests first erupted, with a visible increase in police and security force deployments.
President Masoud Pezeshkian sought to strike a conciliatory tone, saying his administration would listen to what he described as the “legitimate demands” of protesters.
At the same time, Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad issued a stern warning, stating that any attempt to create instability would face what he called a “decisive response.”
The current unrest marks the most widespread protests in Iran since the 2022 demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody.
While the scale of the current protests has not yet matched those earlier nationwide uprisings, analysts say the economic roots of the anger make the situation volatile.
With inflation soaring, purchasing power shrinking, and political frustrations mounting, Iran’s leadership faces growing pressure as the protests show few signs of quickly fading.