Iran: Gunfire heard as protests continue in Mahabad

Video posted by the Kurdish group The Hengaw Human Rights Organization showed protests on Thursday in the Iranian northwestern city of Mahabad, located some 515 kilometers (320 miles) from the capital, Tehran.The protests appeared to be sparked by the death of a man from gunshot wounds overnight. A regional judiciary official acknowledged the man's death to gunshots.The video shows what the Hengaw Human Rights Organization described as the man's funeral before the demonstrations began.Demonstrators are then seen outside the offices for the city's governors, with shots heard in the background.Hengaw later said two others had been killed in demonstrations Thursday in Mahabad by security forces firing at protesters. Authorities did not immediately acknowledge it.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, the most serious unrest to grip Iran since its 2009 Green Movement demonstrations, were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her detention by the country's morality police in September.They have grown to encompass anger over Iran's cratered economy and its theocracy as well.Over 200 people have been killed amid a crackdown in Iran, with thousands others arrested by police, activists say.