Iran protests spread, death toll rises as internet curbed

Iranian authorities and a Kurdish rights group reported rising death tolls on Wednesday as anger at the death of a woman detained by the morality police fuelled protests for a fifth day and fresh restrictions were placed on social media, Qazet.az reports.

Iranian media and a local prosecutor said four people were killed in the last two days, bringing the total death toll according to official sources to eight, including a member of the police and a pro-government militia member.

The demonstrations erupted over the death in detention last week of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan who was arrested in Tehran for "unsuitable attire".

The protests, which were concentrated in Iran's Kurdish-populated northwestern regions but have spread to at least 50 cities and towns nationwide, are the largest since a wave of demonstrations in 2019 over gasoline price rises.

Reports from Kurdish rights group Hengaw, which Reuters could not verify, said 10 protesters had been killed. Three died on Wednesday, adding to the seven people the group said had been killed by security forces.