A volunteer member of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed in a western province during widening demonstrations sparked by the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy, authorities say, marking the first fatality among security forces during the protests.
The death last night of the 21-year-old volunteer in the Guard’s Basij force may mark the start of a heavier-handed response by Iran’s theocracy over the demonstrations, which have slowed in the capital, Tehran, but expanded to other provinces.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported on the Guard member’s death but did not elaborate. An Iranian news agency called the Student News Network, believed to be close to the Basij, directly blames demonstrators for the Guard member’s death, citing comments from Saeed Pourali, a deputy governor in Iran’s Lorestan province.
The Guard member “was martyred… at the hands of rioters during protests in this city in defense of public order,” he reportedly says. Another 13 Basij members and police officers suffered injuries, he adds.
The protests took place in the city of Kouhdasht, over 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Tehran.
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