Iran vows to 'deal decisively' with further dissent after protests in Behbahan
Iran has promised to "deal decisively" with further protests over economic hardship, a day after security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the southwestern city of Behbahan.
In a statement on Friday, the police urged people to "vigilantly refrain from any gathering that could provide a pretext for the counter-revolutionary movement," accusing "enemies" of whipping up discontent.
"The police force has an inherent and legal duty to deal decisively with these desperate moves," the statement added.
Videos posted on social media from inside Iran on Thursday showed protesters chanting: "Fear not, fear not, we are in this together". Some protesters chanted slogans against top officials.
Footage posted on Twitter showed large numbers of security forces in several other cities, including Tehran and Isfahan.
Witnesses in Behbahan told Reuters there had been several arrests in the city, which is in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province.
The videos on social media and arrest reports could not be verified.
Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks wrote on Twitter that it had seen some internet restrictions in place in Khuzestan province late on Thursday.
'People are angry'
Iran has tried to prevent a revival of anti-government protests that took place last November, in which rights groups say more than 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in the deadliest street violence since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran's interior ministry said in May that the number of those killed was 225, including security forces.
"People are angry. The economy is so bad that we cannot survive," said an Iranian man by phone from Tehran on Thursday, who asked Reuters not to be named due to security concerns.
Last year's unrest began with protests over economic hardship but turned political, with demonstrators demanding top officials step down.
Iran's economy, hard hit by US sanctions that have choked off its oil exports, has since further deteriorated as a result of the coronavirus crisis in past months.
Iran's judiciary announced on Tuesday that the death sentences of three men involved in last year's anti-government unrest had been upheld, sparking a surge of online protests against their sentences.
Following the court's decisions, Iranians from all social backgrounds began using the #DontExecute hashtag which quickly went viral worldwide and garnered millions of tweets.
Some people on social media called on people to stage demonstrations across the country on Friday to protest against the death penalty for the three men.
Iran's Tasnim news agency said security forces had arrested "key elements of opposition groups... who were encouraging people to protest on Friday in the northeastern Khorasan Razavi province".
Iran has consistently blamed the United States and Israel for domestic unrest.
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