New clashes erupt in Iran as exiled opposition calls for protests, strikes

Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in Iran, rights groups said on Jan 8, as people angered by the economic crisis kept up their challenge to the authorities and exiled opposition groups urged new protests as well as strikes.

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Twelve days of protests have shaken the clerical authorities under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei already battling economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering after the June war against Israel.

The movement, which started with a shutdown of the Tehran bazaar on Dec 28 after the rial plunged to record lows, has spread nationwide and is now being marked by larger-scale protests.

The authorities have blamed the unrest on "rioters" and the judiciary chief has vowed that there would be "no leniency" in bringing them to justice.

On Jan 7, an Iranian police officer was stabbed to death near Tehran "during efforts to control unrest", the Iranian Fars news agency said.

Mr Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and a key exiled opposition figure, said the turnout on Jan 7 had been "unprecedented" in this wave of demonstrations and called for major new protests on the evening of Jan 8.

He said in a message on social media he had received reports the "regime is deeply frightened and is attempting, once again, to cut off the internet" to thwart the protests.