The record of demonstrations against rising gas prices is increasing in Iran. Three police officers were killed with knives on the night of Monday 18 to Tuesday 19 November. The death of the Pasdar ("Guardian") and the two Bassidji brings to five the number of officially confirmed deaths since the beginning of the demonstrations. Other reports mention six other people killed, without specifying sources or details.
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The identities of the three agents killed have been revealed. It is about Mortéza Ebrahimi, an officer of the Guardians of the Revolution; the other two, Majid Cheikhi and Mostafa Rézai, were members of the Bassij, a body of Islamist volunteers. "Rioters killed [the three men] with clandestine weapons after ambushing them" in Tehran province, west of the capital, say Fars and Isna, quoting a statement from a local base of Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic. The place of the facts has not been specified.
Fars adds that Ebrahimi had just "recently" had a "second child" and that Cheikhi and Rezai were aged 22 and 33 respectively. The funeral of the three men is scheduled for Wednesday. According to state television, a "farewell ceremony" for two of them is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in Tehran.
Since Friday night, many cities in Iran have been hit by riots that erupted hours after the announcement of a rise in gas prices.
With AFP