Street protests over water shortages in southwest Iran continued for a sixth night on Tuesday amid rising violence, while residents in the capital of Tehran chanted anti-government slogans, according to videos posted on social media on Wednesday and Iranian news outlets.
Several videos uploaded by social media users showed security forces using teargas to disperse protesters, and the semi-official news agency Fars said "rioters" shot dead one policeman and injured another in the port city of Mahshahr in the Khuzestan province.
In the town of Izeh, a video showed demonstrators chanting "Reza Shah, bless your soul", a reference to the king who founded the Pahlavi dynasty which was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
After various opposition groups and activists called for demonstrations to support the Khuzestan protesters, videos, which surfaced on late Tuesday and early Wednesday, showed women chanting "Down with the Islamic Republic" at a Tehran metro station. At night, some people in the capital vented their anger with chants against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Reuters could not independently authenticate the videos.