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Iranian president seeks to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters\u2019 \u2018legitimate\u2019 grievances over inflation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n At least six people have been killed as demonstrations over the soaring cost of living in Iran spread to more parts of the country.<\/p>\n At least three people were killed and 17 others were injured at protests in the city of Azna in Lorestan province, some 300km (185 miles) southwest of Tehran, Iran\u2019s semiofficial Fars news agency reported on Thursday.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Videos shared online appeared to show objects in the street ablaze and gunfire echoing as people shouted: \u201cShameless! Shameless!\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier, Fars said two people were killed during protests in the city of Lordegan, about 470km (290 miles) south of the capital Tehran in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.<\/p>\n \u201cSome protesters began throwing stones at the city\u2019s administrative buildings, including the provincial governor\u2019s office, the mosque, the Martyrs\u2019 Foundation, the town hall and banks,\u201d Fars said, adding that police responded with tear gas.<\/p>\n Online videos showed demonstrators gathered on a street, with the sound of gunfire in the background.<\/p>\n Earlier on Thursday, Iranian state television also reported that a member of security forces was killed overnight during protests in the western city of Kouhdasht.<\/p>\n \u201cA 21-year-old member of the Basij from the city of Kouhdasht was killed last night by rioters while defending public order,\u201d the channel said, quoting Said Pourali, the deputy governor of Lorestan province.<\/p>\n The Basij are a volunteer force linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).<\/p>\n The reports come days after shopkeepers began protesting on Sunday over the government\u2019s handling of a currency slide and rapidly rising prices.<\/p>\n The unrest comes at a critical moment for Iran as Western sanctions hammer an economy hit by 40 percent inflation, and after air strikes by Israel and the United States in June targeted the country\u2019s nuclear infrastructure and military leadership.<\/p>\n Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi explained that the government has taken a more cautious approach to this week\u2019s protests than it did to previous demonstrations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government says it\u2019s working hard to find a solution, to deal with the economic hardships that people are feeling,\u201d Asadi said.<\/p>\n Iran last saw mass demonstrations in 2022 and 2023 after\u00a0the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the country\u2019s strict dress code for women.<\/p>\n The latest protests began peacefully in Tehran and spread after students from at least 10 universities joined in on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has sought to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters\u2019 \u201clegitimate demands\u201d and calling on the government to take action to improve the economic situation.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom an Islamic perspective \u2026 if we do not resolve the issue of people\u2019s livelihoods, we will end up in hell,\u201d Pezeshkian said at an event broadcast on state television.<\/p>\n Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Thursday the authorities would hold a direct dialogue with representatives of trade unions and merchants, without providing details.<\/p>\n Still, the authorities have promised to take a \u201cfirm\u201d stance and warned against exploiting the situation to sow chaos.<\/p>\n \u201cAny attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response,\u201d Iran\u2019s prosecutor general said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Tasnim news agency on Wednesday evening reported the arrests of seven people it described as being affiliated with \u201cgroups hostile to the Islamic Republic based in the United States and Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n Iran is in the middle of an extended weekend, with the authorities declaring Wednesday a bank holiday at the last minute, citing the need to save energy due to cold weather.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Iranian president seeks to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters\u2019 \u2018legitimate\u2019 grievances over inflation. At least six people have been killed as demonstrations over the soaring cost of living in Iran spread to more parts of the country. At least three people were killed and 17 others were injured at protests in the city of Azna in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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