Violent clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces occurred in several locations in Iran on Wednesday, as a wave of unrest caused by the country's economic crisis continued for the 11th day, UNN reports with reference to the BBC.
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The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that two police officers were shot dead by armed individuals in the southwestern city of Lordegan.
Videos posted on social media show tense confrontations between protesters and security forces against a backdrop of gunfire.
Footage from several other areas shows security forces firing weapons and using tear gas on crowds of protesters, some of whom are throwing stones.
According to the American Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), protests have now spread to 111 cities and towns in all 31 provinces.
The media reports that at least 34 protesters and four security personnel have died during the unrest, and that 2,200 protesters have been arrested.
The BBC Persian service confirmed the deaths and identities of 21 people, while Iranian authorities reported the deaths of five security personnel.
The protests began on December 28, when shop owners took to the streets of the capital, Tehran, to express their outrage at another sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency, the rial, against the US dollar on the open market.
The rial has fallen to a record low in the past year, and inflation has risen to 40%, as sanctions on Iran's nuclear program weigh on an economy also weakened by inefficient government management and corruption.
University students soon joined the protests, and they began to spread to other cities, with crowds often chanting slogans against the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and sometimes in support of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's late former Shah.
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