Iran protests: Nine people killed overnight amid unrest, state TV reports

Iranian state television is reporting that nine people have been killed overnight amid nationwide protests and unrest.

The report Tuesday puts the death toll in six days of demonstrations to at least 20 people.

State TV says six rioters were killed during an attack on a police station in the town of Qahdarijan. It reported that clashes were sparked by rioters who tried to steal guns from the police station.

State TV says an 11-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were killed in the town of Khomeinishahr, while a member of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed in the town of Najafabad. It says all were shot by hunting rifles.

The towns are all in Iran's central Isfahan province, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Tehran.

It wasn't clear if the Revolutionary Guard member was the same fatality report late Monday night by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency.

Mehr had said an assailant using a hunting rifle killed a policeman and wounded three others in Najafabad. Monday marked the first night to see a fatality among Iran's security forces. President Hassan Rouhani has acknowledged the public's anger over the Islamic Republic's flagging economy, though he and others warned that the government wouldn't hesitate to crack down on those it considers lawbreakers.

That was echoed Monday by judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, who urged authorities to confront rioters, state TV reported. "I demand all prosecutors across the country to get involved and the approach should be strong," he said.

AP