Two Security Forces Killed in Iran

Protesters shot and killed two members of Iran’s security forces as chaotic unrest continued across the country Friday. 

Revolutionary Guards and armed volunteers from the Basij militia chased protestors who were spraying anti-government slogans on a wall in Bairam city in southern Fars province. The protestors opened fire at them, killing two, the Fars news agency reported. 

Qasem Rezaei, deputy police commander of the country, said 24 members of the Basij and police forces had now died since the unrest began last month, with a further 2,000 injured. 

The death toll of protestors, meanwhile, passed 200 this week, according to a human rights organization based in Norway.

"According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, the number of protesters killed by security forces has risen to at least 201 people," the organization said in a statement. "Of those, 23 were under 18 years of age, but not all have been verified through documentary evidence."

The wave of protests, in which girls and women of all ages have removed their mandatory headscarves, or hijabs, has become one of the greatest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the country’s 2009 Green Movement. 

Receiving information about the demonstrations remains difficult amid tight restrictions on the internet and the arrests of at least 40 journalists in the country. However, video shared on social media and seen by IranWire shows people continuing to protest in many cities Thursday night. 

The new wave of public anger was flared by the death last month in custody of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police in Tehran for not wearing her hijab in a “proper” manner.

Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated, but video showed she was arrested forcefully and her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating.