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AFP
Tehran
One person was killed and others injured in protests that spread on Saturday across Iran after a surprise decision to impose petrol price hikes and rationing in the sanctions-hit country.
The death Friday occurred in the central city of Sirjan, where protesters tried to set a fuel depot ablaze but were thwarted by security forces, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
Demonstrations broke out hours after it was announced the price of petrol would be increased by 50 percent for the first 60 litres and 300 percent for anything above that each month. “Unfortunately someone was killed,” Sirjan’s acting governor Mohammad Mahmoudabadi said, adding it was still unclear if the civilian had been “shot or not”.
“Security forces did not have permission to shoot and were only allowed to fire warning shots... which they did,” ISNA quoted him as saying.
It was a “calm gathering” exploited by some who “destroyed public property, damaged fuel stations and also wanted to access the oil company’s main fuel depots and set fire to them”, he added.
Besides Sirjan, “scattered” protests were also held Friday in other cities including Abadan, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Gachsaran, Khoramshahr, Mahshahr, Mashhad and Shiraz, state news agency IRNA said.
Some “rioters” in Ahvaz torched a bank and in Khoramshahr “suspicious and unknown armed individuals” opened fire and injured a number of people, state television’s website said.
In other cities, protests were mostly limited to blocking traffic and were over by midnight, it added.
Police fired tear gas at protesters in some cities, state television said, without specifying when.
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17/11/2019
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