Iran protests latest: Regime forces kill three in fresh crackdown on protesters

We’re wrapping up our live coverage of the protest in Iran for today.

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Iran‘s supreme leader and its president have tried to link nationwide protests to an Islamic State-claimed gun attack on a mosque in which 15 people were killed.

Iran‘s theocracy has been unable to contain the demonstrations, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her detention by the country’s morality police.

More than 200 people have been killed amid a crackdown in Iran, with thousands others arrested by police, activists say.

On Wednesday, a gunman opened fire on worshippers at Shiraz’s Shah Cheragh mosque, the second-holiest site in Iran.

State media said at least 15 people had been killed in the assault, which authorities initially attributed to multiple gunmen.

President Ebrahim Raisi described the ongoing protests as “riots” that allowed for the shooting.

Mr Khamenei blamed the attack on a “plot of the enemies”.

“We all have duties to deal a blow to the warmongering enemy and its treacherous and foolish cohorts,” he reportedly said.

“All our people ranging from the security bodies and the judiciary body and activists in the field of media must be united against the wave that disregards and disrespects people’s lives, their security and their sacred things.”

Footage released by Iranian authorities shows a gunman with a large backpack, walking near the mosque where 15 people were killed, then later moving inside with a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle.

Barefoot worshippers inside try to flee as the man opens fire, then hunts those hiding behind whatever they could find. Blood could be seen on the mosque’s floor.

Riot police later captured the man, whom authorities have yet to identify.

The Islamic State group said it carried out the attack, saying an armed IS militant stormed the shrine and opened fire on visitors.

Iran’s supreme leader has said the killers at a mosque gun attack “will surely be punished”.

In a statement read on state TV, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “We all have a duty to deal with the enemy and its traitorous or ignorant agents.”

Khamenei’s call for unity appeared to be directed at mostly government loyalists and not protesters whose nearly six-week-old movement is seen by authorities as a threat to national security.

Iranian protesters have called for the death of Khamenei.

Islamic State admitted it had killed 15 worshippers. The attack was at Shiraz’s Shah Cheragh mosque, the second-holiest site in Iran.

Iran has summoned Germany’s ambassador, accusing Berlin of interfering in the Islamic Republic’s internal affairs.

“Some European countries, contrary to their international commitments in fighting terrorism, have become sponsors of terrorist groups,” said Iran‘s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani, in comments reported by the semi-official Fars news agency.

In case you missed it:

Tens of thousands of Iranians across the country defied phalanxes of security forces to march and protest against the clerical regime on Wednesday, the religiously potent and politically symbolic 40th day since the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police, writes Borzou Daragahi:

A former Iranian president has warned that “violence cannot be answered with violence”, as he defended people’s right to demonstrate.

Mohammad Khatami’s name and image have been banned in Iranian media since 2015 over his reformist political views, which call for changing the Islamic Republic from within.

“If (the people) see that the conditions of this life are not provided (by the government), they have the right to criticise and even protest,” Mr Khatami said.

Protests continued today, particularly in the northwestern city of Mahabad, 320 miles from the capital, Tehran.

There, online videos purported to show demonstrators at offices for the city’s governors, with shots heard in the background. Others purported to show a building ablaze.

Iran‘s state-run IRNA news agency said that “rioters” had damaged public property, including breaking the windows of some banks and a tax administration office.

The protests appeared to be sparked by the death of a man from gunshot wounds overnight.

A Kurdish human-rights group posted video it described as the man’s funeral before the demonstrations began.

It later said two others had been killed in demonstrations on Thursday in Mahabad by security forces firing at protesters. Authorities did not immediately acknowledge it.

It also said the sound of gunshots echoed through the city of Baneh, some 50 miles south of Mahabad, amid demonstrations as well.

Demonstrators attempted to break into government offices in Mahabad and surrounded the governor’s office yesterday after the death of a 35-year-old protester Ismaeil Mauludi, reported Sky News.

Mauludi was killed during Wednesday’s demonstrations, according to human rights group Hengaw.

The group said that at least 3 citizens, identified as 18-year-old Keyvan Darvishi, Mohammad Lotfolahi, and Mohammad Shariati, were killed yesterday.

A dead body was found in the undercarriage of a Lufthansa aircraft that arrived at Frankfurt airport from Tehran yesterday, Reuters reported citing German daily Bild.

The body was found by workers after the passengers of flight LH 601 had left the aircraft and the A340 had been moved to a hangar for maintenance.

According to Lufthansa’s website the same flight scheduled for Friday has been cancelled.

The incident comes amid widespread protests in Iran triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month.