At least three killed in ongoing protests in Iran

TEHRAN: At least, three people were reportedly shot dead by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the ongoing protests against the government in Iran.

According to Al-Arabiya, the incident occurred in Doroud, Loerstan province in central Iran.

Some videos surfaced in the social media that the people were protesting peacefully when masked men opened fire suddenly at the protesters.

Protesters in Iran have raised anti-government slogans, over alleged corruption and rising prices that have plagued the people of the country earlier in this week. Scores of protesters have been arrested in the last few days.

The outbreak of unrest reflects the growing discontent over rising prices and alleged corruption by the government, as well as concern over the country's costly involvement in regional conflicts such as Syria and Iraq.

In the third day, the wave of protests spread to Qom, around 80 km from the Iranian capital, Tehran, protesters in Qom and Tehran raised anti-government slogans against Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei such as- "Death to Hezbollah" and "Aren't you ashamed Khamenei? Leave the country."

The Iranian president's biggest achievement, a deal with major world powers, including the United States (US) in 2015, that curbed the country's disputed nuclear programme in return, for the lifting of most international sanctions, is yet to bring the broad economic benefits to the people, despite the government's claims of bringing benefits to them.

Iran backs Syria's embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, in his country's civil war, the Shia militants in Iraq, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah group in Lebanon.