Iran protesters try to break into government building as unrest continues

ShareSaveCaroline Hawley,Diplomatic CorrespondentandAlys DaviesShareSaveTelegramUnrest has been documented in other cities in Iran since protests beganA member of Iran's security forces was killed during a fourth day of protests in the country, which have been sparked by a currency collapse, officials have said. Citing regional chief justice Saeed Shahvari, Iran's judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency said Amir Hessam Khodayari Fard was killed in the city of Kouhdasht, in the western Lorestan province, on Wednesday. The BBC has not been able to verify this and protesters have since said the man was one of their number and was shot dead by security forces. Footage verified by BBC Persian appears to show forces firing at protesters in the city on the same day. A number of members of the security forces were also injured, state media reported. Confrontations were also reported in the southern province of Fars and the western province of Hamedan on Wednesday. The authorities in the capital, Tehran, had declared Wednesday a bank holiday - in an apparent effort to quell the unrest, which started in the capital on Sunday. The semi-official Fars news agency reported that a 21-year-old member of the Basij - a paramilitary force linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) - was killed during a confrontation in the city of Kouhdasht. Thirteen police officers and Basij members had been injured by stone throwing, the report said. The BBC has not been able to verify this and protesters dispute that the man was a member of the security forces. Twenty protesters were arrested in the city on Wednesday night, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency said. In the southern province of Fars, protesters tried to break into a local government building, with officials reporting three police officers injured and four people arrested in the city of Fasa. In video that emerged on social media and verified by the BBC, a crowd is filmed breaking the gate of the governor's office in the city. Then, in another post, security men are seen shooting in response. Clouds of tear gas rise in front of shuttered shops. Across the country, schools, universities and public institutions were closed because of the last-minute public holiday announced by the Iranian government. It was ostensibly to save energy because of the cold weather, though it was seen by many Iranians as an attempt to contain the protests. They began in Tehran - among shopkeepers angered by another sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency against the US dollar on the open market. By Tuesday, university students were involved and they had spread to several cities, with people chanting against the country's clerical rulers. The protests have been the most widespread since an uprising in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was accused by morality police of not wearing her veil properly. But they have not been on the same scale. To prevent any escalation, tight security is now reported in the areas of Tehran where the demonstrations began. President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government will listen to the "legitimate demands" of the protesters. But the prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, has also warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with what he called a "decisive response". Clarification 2 January: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that protesters say that the man killed was one of their number and not a member of the security forces.