Iran's crackdown on the ongoing protests has led to the death of at least 106 people in 21 cities across the Islamic Republic within a span of five days, Amnesty International has said. The Iranian government did not make any comments regarding the reports and has not made the number of causalities available to the public.
The report by Amnesty came after the United Nations raised its concern over the unrest in Iran. Amnesty believes that the actual number of death could be much higher with some reports suggesting it to be as many as 200.
The sudden decision to increase the fuel prices last Friday sparked the protests which have also led to the death of members of police forces in various provinces says a report by Fars News Agency. The authorities shut down the internet access on Saturday which has left the state media and the government officials to be the provider of information for Iran and its 80 million people.
Why was Iran forced to raise fuel prices?
The hike in the gas prices came as a domino effect after the United States of America pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed economic sanctions.
The US abandoning the landmark deal and reinstating the sanctions has created internal issues for Iran's economy since May this year. The currency value dropped to record low and the increase in the inflation rate further weakened the economy. The resulting unrest in society triggered protests across the country.
US supporting Iranian protesters
Although the US President has not released any official comment on the protest in Iran, the US Secretary of the State Micheal Pompeo issued messages supporting the Iranian protestors and condemned any act of violence against the people by the Iranian government.
The spokesperson from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi, reacted to Pompeo's messages by condemning his remarks. Mousavi also said that Iran knows that "hypocrite remarks are void of sincere sympathy".
Addressing the intentions behind the Pompeo remarks Mousavi added: "It seems weird to see sympathizing with a nation suffering from the US' economic terrorism and the same person who has already said that the Iranian people should be starved to surrender".
