The Revolutionary Guards said calm had returned across Iran, state TV reported. Amnesty International said over 100 demonstrators had been killed by security forces, a figure rejected as “speculative” by the government.
Protests began on Nov. 15 in several provincial towns after the government announced gasoline price hikes of at least 50 percent. They spread to 100 cities and towns and quickly turned political with protesters demanding top officials step down.
“They want ZERO transparency, thinking the world will not find out the death and tragedy that the Iranian Regime is causing!,” he added.
The International Monetary Fund said it regretted the violence and loss of life during the protests and had not discussed the gasoline price hike with Iran.
IMF spokeswoman Camilla Andersen added: “In general, the IMF continues to advise oil-producing countries in the Middle East and Central Asia region to reduce fuel subsidies ... while compensating the poor with targeted cash transfers, which we understand is the approach Iran has taken.”
On Thursday, state TV showed thousands marching in pro-government rallies in a dozen cities, carrying national flags and signs with slogans including “Rioting is not protesting.”
Amnesty International said it had documented at least 106 protesters killed by security forces, which would make it the worst street unrest in Iran in at least a decade and possibly since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s U.N. mission on Wednesday dismissed the casualty report as “speculative, not reliable.”
Iranian authorities said several people, including members of the security forces and policemen, were killed in street violence, which Tehran blamed on “foreign foes.”
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