On social media, unverified images and video clips are said to show protesters setting fire to buildings and police vehicles, people scanning "death for the dictator" and clashing with police. Portrait of senior leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei burned up.

The posts are dismissed as "fake news" in state media, which however reports that protests are now ongoing in at least 40 cities.

- People are very angry here in (city) Shiraz. I heard gunshots. Hundreds of people are out in the streets. They burned a police car this morning, says a witness who wants to remain anonymous to the Reuters news agency.

In Syria, in central Iran, protesters are said to have attacked and tried to set fire to a fuel store. But they were hindered by police.

One person was killed and several injured in turmoil, unclear how, writes the semi-state news agency Isna. According to Mohammad Mahmodabadi, governor of Sirjan, police had been ordered to release only warning shots. However, there are reports of civilian-armed men who opened fire, Reuters writes.

"Several bullet wounds"

Also in the cities of Abadan, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Birjand, Isfahan, Birjand, Khorramshahr, Mashhad and Shiraz, protests have been carried out.

At least one demonstrator has been killed in the city of Behbahan, according to the BBC. In Ahvaz, a bank has been set on fire and in Khorramshahr, several people are reported to have been shot when they were attacked by "unidentified armed individuals", state television reports according to the AFP news agency.

In several cities, car and truck drivers have blocked roads.

The trigger for the large-scale protests was that the price of gasoline was raised by just over 50 percent on Friday while introducing ration cards. The 50 percent increase refers to 60 liters per month and vehicles. For every refueling liter additionally, the price increase will be 300 percent.

Financial concerns

The price hike comes after a prolonged period of economic turmoil in the country that has had a harder time selling its oil since the US withdrew from the nuclear deal, which was signed with Iran in 2015, and reintroduced sanctions.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has said that the purpose of the gasoline initiative is to improve the quality of life of the population. The profit from the price increase will be distributed to about 18 million households monthly. But in Iran, concerns are expressed that the higher gasoline price will lead to higher prices for other goods.

Many Iranians have a tough economy, not least because of the sanctions.

-When the gasoline price goes up, the price of other goods goes up. And I don't think the payouts will cover the difference, says 48-year-old Said to the Qatar-based broadcaster al-Jazira.