Iranian police clashed with anti-regime protesters on Saturday as the biggest nationwide anti-regime demonstrations in nearly a decade entered their second day with thousands of people demanding change and chanting slogans against the country’s top leaders.
Authorities confirmed on Sunday that two men were killed in the western town of Doroud in Lorestan province during Saturday’s clashes, but said that police did not shoot at protesters. “Unfortunately, two of our dear citizens were killed in clashes,” said Habibollah Khojastehpour, deputy governor of Lorestan province. He alleged that foreign intelligence services and Sunni radical forces were behind the clashes.
In Tehran riot police on Saturday used batons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators while at Valiasr Crossroad — a hot spot for pro-democracy rallies — hundreds of protesters chanted “death to the dictator”, destroyed fences and set fire to rubbish bins, eyewitnesses said.