By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI (Reuters). Apparently, Iranian security forces used live rounds and teargas to disperse protestors in several provinces, on Thursday. This was according to social media posts. The protests were triggered by increasing food prices.

Last week, Iranians marched to the streets after prices soared by up to 300% in some staples made of flour due to a reduction in food subsidy. Protests soon turned into political with people calling for the end of Iran’s Islamic Republic. This was echoing 2019’s unrest that began because fuel prices rose.

Reuters could not confirm that social media videos showed six deaths and dozens of injuries in the last days. No official statement has been made about any deaths.

Video footage from Thursday’s clashes was posted to social media. It showed police firing live shots at protestors, including in Farsan, central Iran. To disperse the demonstrators in Shahr-e Kord (and Hafshejan), security forces used teargas as well as clubs.

In one video, demonstrators from the south city of Dezful were heard chanting “Fear not. Fear not. We are in this together.”

Reuters could not verify authenticity of the mentioned social media videos.

Qasem, a top police official, warned Thursday that illegal gatherings are intolerable. He said so according to Iran’s semiofficial ILNA news agency.

2019 PROTESTS REVISION: FEARS

Although the government admitted to protests last week, it described them only as “small gatherings.” Iranian media reports last week that “dozens” of protesters and provocateurs were arrested.

Iran’s leaders fear a revival, although they have denied reports that there were more than 300 deaths according to Amnesty International. Reuters also reported 1,500 people killed.

Subsidies for basic goods such as cooking oil, dairy products and other items were also reduced by the government. The government described this decision as a fair redistribution of subsidies to those with lower incomes.

Witnesses and posts on social media show that protestors are now calling for greater political freedom, an end of the Islamic Republic, and the fall of its leadership.

On Thursday, social media video showed demonstrators burning images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and shouting, “We don’t want the rule by the clerics” while calling for Reza Pahlavi to be returned, the exiled child of the overthrown shah.

Reza Pahlavi, in a message posted to his Twitter account (NYSE:), called for unity between Iranians and offered condolences the family of those who were killed in the unrest.

Some Iranian social media users claimed that the internet has been down since last Wednesday. It was thought this is an effort to end social media’s ability to organize rallies or disseminate video. Iranian officials claimed that there was no interruption to internet access.

According to official statistics, nearly half of Iran’s 85 million population lives below the poverty line. U.S. sanctions, combined with growing inflation, rising unemployment, a slumping national currency and state corruption have further crippled Iran’s economy.

Donald Trump, then the US President, pulled Washington from Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with six countries and imposed new sanctions against Iran. Indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington are deadlocked since March.