ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An unconfirmed number of protesters have been killed after Iranian forces opened fire on demonstrations, according to social media reports.

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) reported at least six protesters were killed in Lorestan province and several were killed and four injured after Revolutionary Guards opened fire on demonstrators in Kermanshah province.

Reuters reported on the shooting of at least two protesters by security forces in Dorud, Lorestan province.

Images and video shared on social media also showed protesters tearing down posters of Iranian figures like Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds force, and the Supreme Leader, and setting fire to government buildings.

Rudaw cannot immediately independently confirm the casualties.

The founder of Telegram, a popular messaging platform in Iran, announced the suspension of Amad News for contravening the platform’s rules prohibiting encouraging violence after the channel reportedly urged subscribers to “use Molotov cocktails against police.”

“Be careful – there are lines one shouldn’t cross,” Pavel Durov tweeted Saturday evening.

Iranian authorities have alleged that the small but widespread protests, now in their third day, are being instigated by external forces.

US President Donald Trump reiterated his support for the protesters, taking to Twitter again on the subject. On Saturday, he tweeted experts on Iran from his speech to the UN General Assembly in September.

“The entire world understands that the good people of Iran want change and, other than the vast military power of United States, that Iran’s people are what their leaders fear the most. This is what causes the regime to restrict internet access, tear down satellite dishes, shoot unarmed student protesters, and imprison political reformers,” Trump had stated, adding “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever and the day will come when the people will face a choice.”

Tehran has dismissed Trump’s comments as “opportunist and hypocritical.”

“The noble Iranian nation never pays heed to the opportunist and hypocritical mottos chanted by the US officials and their interfering allegations on domestic developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bahram Qasemi said on Saturday.



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