Via JPost:
Anti-government protesters demonstrated in Iran on Sunday in defiance of a warning by the authorities of a tough crackdown, extending for a fourth day one of the most audacious challenges to the clerical leadership since pro-reform unrest in 2009.
Police in the center of Tehran fired water cannon to try to disperse demonstrators, according to pictures on social media.
Video posted online also showed a clash between protesters and police in the city of Khoramdareh in Zanjan province in the country’s northwest. Reuters was unable immediately to verify the authenticity of the footage.
There were also reports of demonstrations in the cities of Sanandaj and Kermanshah in western Iran as well as Chabahar in the southeast and Ilam and Izeh in the southwest.
Tens of thousands of people have protested across the country since Thursday against the Islamic Republic’s unelected clerical elite and Iranian foreign policy in the region. They have also chanted slogans in support of political prisoners.
Demonstrators initially vented their anger over economic hardships and alleged corruption but they took on a rare political dimension, with a growing number of people calling on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.
Giving his first public reaction to the protests, President Hassan Rouhani said Iranians had the right to protest and criticize the authorities.
But he warned, according to official media: “The government will show no tolerance for those who damage public properties, violate public order and create unrest in the society.”
“People are absolutely free to criticize the government and protest but their protests should be in such a way as to improve the situation in the country and their life.”
“Criticism is different from violence and and damaging public properties,” he said.
The protests are the biggest since unrest in 2009 that followed the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Videos showed protesters in central Tehran chanting “Down with the dictator!,” in an apparent reference to Khamenei.
Protesters in Khorramabad in western Iran shouted “Khamenei, shame on you, leave the country alone!.”
The government said it would temporarily restrict access to the Telegram and Instagram messaging apps, state television quoted an informed source as saying.
An Iranian reached by telephone, who asked not to be named, said there was a heavy presence of police and security forces in the heart of the capital.
“I saw a few young men being arrested and put into police van. They don’t let anyone assemble,” he said.
In the northwestern city of Khoy, a video showed a protester being arrested by police while a crowd shouted “Police, go and arrest the thieves!.” Video on social media showed people in the city of Dorud set fire to a bank building. The authenticity of the video, like others, could not immediately be verified.