Calm has been restored after fuel price accrual disrupts, says Iran

Protests in Iran triggered by petrol price hikes last week have subsided, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday, a day after the elite Revolutionary Guards warned of “decisive” action if anti-government protests do not cease.

Social media videos posted in defiance of an Internet block showed protests continued in several cities on Monday night, however, and a heavy presence of security forces in streets.

“Calm has been restored in the country,” Iran’s judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told a news conference.

Several people, including members of the security forces and police, have been killed in the protests that began on Friday after fuel price rises of at least 50 percent were announced, and around 1,000 “rioters” arrested, authorities said.

Three members of the security forces were stabbed to death near Tehran, news agency reported on Monday.

Hundreds of young and working-class Iranians expressed their anger at squeezed living standards, state corruption and a deepening gap between rich and poor.

Social media footage showed protesters burning pictures of top officials and calling on clerical rulers to step down, as well as violent clashes between security forces and protesters.

A curb on Internet access imposed at the weekend was still in place, suggesting the clerical rulers are uneasy about possible further protests.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday blamed the turmoil on Iran’s foreign foes, including the United States, and denounced protesters as “thugs”.