Two security officials were killed and 30 others were left wounded by firing of armed protesters as violence erupted in Lordegan city in Iran’s Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, according to Iranian media.

Nationwide protests over economic grievances have entered their 11th day in parts of Iran, with the latest demonstrations reported in Lordegan and Bojnord in the northeastern province of North Khorasan.

According to Iran’s Fars news agency, the unrest began when around 300 shopkeepers closed their businesses at about 10pm on Wednesday and gathered in several streets near the Khardoun neighbourhood and Shirouni Bridge, chanting slogans.

Authorities said tensions escalated after certain individuals infiltrated the gathering and provoked clashes with police. During the confrontation, some protesters allegedly pelted security personnel with stones.

Fars reported that armed individuals within the crowd opened fire on police using “various military-grade and hunting weapons”, leaving two dead and at least 30 others injured.

The report added that demonstrators also vandalised the governor’s office and several other administrative buildings in Lordegan during the clashes.

Separately, a shop was set on fire in the city of Bojnord in Iran’s northeastern border province of North Khorasan, while a civilian’s vehicle was narrowly saved from being torched by protesters, Iranian officials said.

Furthermore, a pro-government demonstration was held in Iran’s western province of Hamedan, where participants chanted slogans against economic pressure on the country.

Protesters were seen carrying posters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s national flag, while also staging a protest against Israel.

The demonstrators expressed strong opposition to what they described as attempts to spread violence, insecurity and chaos within the country.

New protests

According to videos published by rights groups on social media, new protests took place at different points across the country on Wednesday, with streets thronged with protesters in some cases.

Norway-based rights group IHR published a video of people massing in the streets of Bojnurd in the north-east of the country, shouting slogans including “an Iranian can die but will not accept humiliation”.

The Tasnim news agency reported that rioters had attacked a mosque and a shop selling religious books.

Another protest was reported in the upscale Shemiran district of Tehran, with protesters shouting “death to the dictator” and “freedom”, IHR said.

The US-based HRANA group posted a video of a crowd demonstrating in the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, with people shouting slogans including “don’t be spectators, join us” and “this is the final battle, Pahlavi will come back”, referring to the dynasty of the deposed shah.

Large numbers of protesters also took to the streets in Aligudarz in western Iran, with people chanting slogans including “this is the year of blood, Seyyed Ali will be toppled” in reference to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to footage broadcast by the Iran International channel, which is based outside the country.

Iran’s Fars news agency, meanwhile, reported deadly clashes in the country’s south-west that killed two people and wounded 30.

Fars said that shopkeepers were protesting in Lordergan when “rioters began throwing stones at the police”.

“Among them, there were individuals with military and hunting weapons who suddenly opened fire on the police,” the agency added.

It said the two dead were police officers.

Nationwide, protests have spread to 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to an AFP tally based on official statements and local media.

President urges restraint

In a video released by the news agency Mehr after a cabinet meeting, Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Pezeshkian had “ordered that no security measures be taken against the demonstrators”.

“Those who carry firearms, knives and machetes and who attack police stations and military sites are rioters, and we must distinguish protesters from rioters,” Ghaempanah added.

Security forces have now killed at least 27 protesters, including five people under the age of 18, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Tuesday.

Iranian media outlets, relaying official announcements, have reported 15 deaths, including members of the security forces and a policeman who was shot dead on Tuesday.

MINNEAPOLIS: Outrage is spreading in Minneapolis after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman during an immigration enforcement operation as President Donald Trump said the officer acted in self-defence. 

Local leaders and residents have voiced anger over the incident, with calls for clear answers and accountability as tensions rise in the city.

Jacob Frey, the mayor, called the government’s stance “bullshit” and urged ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers carrying out a second day of mass raids to leave Minneapolis.

A video of the incident, which has not been verified by AFP, shows a Honda SUV apparently blocking unmarked law enforcement vehicles as they try to drive down a snow-covered street.

The driver, whom the mayor said was a 37-year-old woman, tried to drive off as officers approached and attempted to open the door. One agent fired three times with a handgun as the vehicle pulled away.

President Donald Trump, who has ordered nationwide anti-immigrant raids, accused the victim of “viciously” running over the agent.

“The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting,” he said on Truth Social, adding the agent “seems to have shot her in self-defence.”

The incident took place during protest action against immigration enforcement in the south of the city in the Midwestern state of Minnesota.

“Attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them — an act of domestic terrorism,” the Department of Homeland Security, which runs ICE, said on X.

“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.

“The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased. The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will be involved in the investigation into the shooting, along with the FBI, officials said.

Minnesota’s governor Tim Walz called the federal government’s response to the incident “propaganda” and vowed the state would “ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation.”

Large crowds chanting anti-ICE slogans gathered near the scene of the shooting.

Anti-ICE protests

There have been passionate protests against immigration operations under the Trump administration, which has vowed to arrest and deport what it says are “millions” of undocumented migrants.

The DHS said the violence was a “direct consequence of constant attacks and demonisation of our officers.”

The shooting reportedly happened at 34th Street and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis.

Nearby, ICE officers pepper-sprayed and shoved protesters, footage broadcast by local CBS affiliate WCCO showed.

Dozens of protesters and bystanders were seen at the scene after the incident.

“There’s no way whatever this person did that they deserved to be killed for it,” one bystander told the broadcaster.

Trump has made preventing unlawful immigration and expelling undocumented migrants priorities during his second term, and has tightened conditions for entering the United States and obtaining visas.

During his campaign, Trump likened undocumented migrants to “animals”, frequently linking them, without evidence, to criminal behaviour.

ICE — which critics accuse of turning into a paramilitary force under Trump — has been tasked with deporting an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants.

Trump’s White House called Minneapolis Mayor Frey a “scumbag” over comments after the shooting in which he accused ICE of “causing chaos and distrust.”

US authorities said as many as 2,000 officers had been deployed to Minneapolis and surrounding areas to carry out immigration sweeps, partly in response to claims of fraud involving some Somali residents.

In November 2025, a judge threw out charges against two people accused of using their vehicle to ambush officers carrying out immigration enforcement in Chicago.

LONDON: Britain has confirmed it helped the United States during an operation to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic. 

UK officials said the assistance was provided after a request from Washington, stressing that the support was lawful and limited, even as the move drew sharp criticism from Moscow.

The vessel had thwarted an earlier attempt to board it last month near Venezuela, where a US raid on Saturday toppled the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro.

“UK Armed Forces provided pre-planned operational support … to US military assets interdicting the Bella-1 in the UK–Iceland–Greenland gap following a US request for assistance,” the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

A Royal Navy ship “provided support for US forces pursuing and interdicting” the vessel – which recently changed its name to the Marinera – while the Royal Air Force (RAF) provided “surveillance support from the air,” it added in a statement.

“The UK and US defence and security relationship is the deepest in the world and the UK provided enabling support in full compliance with international law,” the ministry insisted.

The seized tanker had been sanctioned by Washington under measures targeting Iran, and had been “initially flying a false flag”, according to the MoD.

The vessel had “turned off its transponders while at sea and sought to reflag while being pursued, indicating its nefarious links to global sanctions evasion,” it added.

Recent assessments showed the tanker has been involved in illegal activity, “linked to international terrorism and crime including Hezbollah”, the Iranian-backed Lebanese force, the ministry said.

“The Russian flagging of the vessel shows their role in this interconnected shadow activity we are seeing across the world, which threatens our national security, harms our economy and undermines global security,” it added.

Defence minister John Healey said in a statement Britain “will continue to step up our action against shadow fleet activity to protect our national security, our economy, and global stability”.

“The US is the UK’s closest defence and security partner,” he added.

“The depth of our defence relationship with the US is an essential part of our security, and today’s seamlessly executed operation shows just how well this works in practice.”

Healey told parliament later that “no UK personnel took part in the boarding” of the tanker, which he said was “falsely flagged” and under US sanctions.

That allowed it to be “lawfully intercepted and subjected to the law of the interdicting state”, he added, paying tribute to the “immense courage and professionalism” of US forces in “dangerous and deteriorating” conditions at sea.

Healey’s department said Britain had also provided “basing” support to the United States, after unconfirmed reports that some US aircraft have been gathering on Royal Air Force bases since the weekend.