At least six people reported killed during widening protests in Iran

The demonstrations have become the biggest in the country since 2022 (Fars News Agency via AP)

Widening demonstrations sparked by Iran’s ailing economy have spread into the Islamic Republic’s rural provinces, with at least six people being killed in the first fatalities reported among security forces and protesters, authorities said.

The deaths 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 elsewhere.