TEHRAN: Violence broke out across Iran last night after protesters were attacked with tear gas by security forces during strikes over high prices, power cuts and water shortages as the regime refused to enter talks with US President Donald Trump.
As night settled in Iran yesterday, protests that began on Tuesday afternoon continued across the impoverished country – with shopkeepers, market vendors, farmers and truck drivers taking to the streets in protest about worsening conditions.
Dozens of store owners in the area have closed their shops and are on strike after the rial’s value dropped by 120 per cent in the last six months alone.
Iran has also been hit by falling salaries set against the rising cost of living, while water shortages and power outages have also hit the embattled country.
Videos obtained from the protests show protesters are not afraid of the regime’s repressive forces and are confronting them despite heavy security presence.
Protesters chanted the game is over for both factions of the regime, both the “reformists” and the “hardliners”.
In Karaj, protests took a dramatic turn last night as demonstrators clashed with security forces, chanting anti-regime slogans.
In one clip, young protesters are seen being crippled with tear gas as the mostly peaceful protests took a violent and dark twist – with protesters later setting tyres and police motorbikes on fire.
In another video, demonstrators can be heard chanting “down with Khamenei” and “Our enemy is here, they are lying when they say it is the US”.
A separate video also shows as the protesters chant: “Guns, tanks, are no longer effective, mullahs should get lost.” Protesters added chants of “down with the dictator”, as security forces charged at the crowds.
In Shiraz, security forces have also started targeting protesters with tear gas.
Meanwhile, Iran launched a naval exercise in the Arabian Gulf yesterday, just days before the US reimposes sanctions on Tehran. The timing is unusual, as it appears to be similar in scale and nature to a drill that ordinarily happens later in the autumn.