Death Toll in Iran Protests Climbs as Rouhani Calls for Calm

Watch this conversation with Vivek Katju, former secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs on what these protests mean for Iran.

(Bloomberg) -- The death toll in protests that have agitated Iran over the past five days climbed, as security forces clashed with demonstrators rallying in a rare show of displeasure with the country's leaders.

Accounts varied, but as many as a dozen people may have died. Local officials told the semi-official Mehr News and Iranian Labour News Agency that four people were killed Sunday night, including two run over by a fire truck in the western city of Dorud. State TV said Monday that 10 people were killed Sunday when security forces battled “armed protesters” who tried to take over police stations and military bases.

The report didn't say where the facilities were located or offer evidence to back up the claim. Sunday's toll adds to two other protesters killed in Dorud on Saturday.

President Hassan Rouhani, trying to defuse the situation, again defended the Iranian people's right to demonstrate.

“Protests are an opportunity, they are not a threat,” he said, according to the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency. His legitimization of the strongest show of dissent in Iran in years came just hours after his government restricted access to social media that have been a major source of information -- and possibly disinformation -- about the protests.

Evolving Targets

The unrest began Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad, initially targeting the government's handling of the economy. But within a day, the focus expanded to the religious establishment and state security forces close to the hardliners.

Unverified video footage shared on Iran's Telegram social media site, Twitter and Instagram from several cities across the country showed demonstrators calling for the ouster of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who hasn't commented publicly on the ferment.

In Tehran late Monday, hundreds of police in riot gear outnumbered the roughly 100 demonstrators at Enghelab Square, a traditional gathering spot for political protests close to Tehran University. A group of mainly young men and women were chanting, “Security forces, support us! Death to the dictator!”

The rare public challenge to the country's leaders has erupted at a time when prices and unemployment are rising, and strains between the U.S. and Iran have deepened. President Donald Trump has imposed additional sanctions on Tehran and threatened to quit Iran's 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

The U.S. leader, who has tweeted about the protests multiple times, said Monday on Twitter that Iran “is failing at every level.”

“TIME FOR CHANGE!” he added.

Iran's main stock gauge, the Tedpix, rose 0.7 percent on Monday after falling 1.7 percent on Sunday to its lowest level since Dec. 20, according to data on the bourse's website.

The extent of the unrest and security forces' efforts to quell them has been impossible to assess because of state restrictions on the media, but protests have been confirmed in at least 20 locations across the country. The semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency said about 200 protesters in the capital, Tehran, were arrested on Saturday alone.

The chief executive of Iran's most popular social media site, Telegram, said Sunday that authorities blocked access to most Iranians after the company refused to shut down a number of “peacefully protesting channels.” The government, which has also limited access to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, said the restrictions are temporary.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps -- whose mandate is to safeguard the Islamic Revolution -- vowed over the weekend to take tough action if the unrest continued. The demonstrations are among the largest since millions of Iranians protested the disputed re-election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in 2009.

To contact the reporter on this story: Golnar Motevalli in Tehran at gmotevalli@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Glen Carey

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.