Hundreds of banks and government sites burned

WASHINGTON: The United States said it has received nearly 20,000 messages from Iran about protests including photos and videos after appealing to demonstrators to defy restrictions on the internet. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stood at the podium in front of images of blazing streets, four days after he asked Iranians to send in information so the United States can "expose and sanction the abuses."

"We've received to date nearly 20.000 messages, videos, pictures, notes of the regime's abuses through Telegram messaging services," Pompeo told reporters, referring to the encrypted app. "To the courageous people of Iran who refuse to stay silent about 40 years of abuses by the ruling regime, I say simply this: the United States hears you, we support you and will continue to stand with you in your struggle for a brighter future for your people and for your great nation," Pompeo said.

The protests, triggered by a sharp rise in gas prices, came after a year and a half of biting sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump that aim to contain Iran's regional role. In response to Iran's effort to shut down the internet, the United States has imposed sanctions on the communications minister and pressed Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to suspend the accounts of Iranian government leaders. Amnesty International said Monday that at least 143 demonstrators have been killed since November 15 as the regime tries to repress protests violently.

Government sites burned
Approximately 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in recent unrest in Iran, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency yesterday. More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 gas stations were also burned, he said, without specifying where the attacks took place. According to IRNA, Rahmani Fazli also said up to 200,000 people took part nationwide in the unrest that began on Nov 15 after the announcement of gasoline price hikes.

London-based Amnesty International said on Monday it had recorded at least 143 protesters killed in the protests, the worst anti-government unrest in Iran since authorities put down the "Green Revolution" demonstrations against election fraud in 2009. Iran has rejected Amnesty's death toll. It says several people, including members of the security forces, were killed and more than 1,000 people arrested. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said the number of arrests was probably closer to 4,000.

The protests quickly turned political, with protesters calling on top leaders to step down. The government has blamed "thugs" linked to exiles and the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring up the street unrest. The protests came as new US sanctions imposed this year cut off nearly all of Iran's oil exports, and as similar protest movements erupted in Iraq and Lebanon against governments that include heavily armed pro-Iran factions. - Agencies