TEHRAN, Feb 22: At least seven people have been killed in southern Iran after sporadic violent clashes followed the announcement of results of Friday's parliamentary elections, reports and officials said on Sunday.
Four people were killed in clashes on Saturday with police in Izeh in southwestern Iran, a provincial official told the student news agency ISNA. "Demonstrators wanted to attack the prefecture but police prevented them. Then they attacked the town hall, and police opened fire and used tear gas," the deputy governor of Khuzestan province was quoted as saying.
"The deputy elected, Seyed Hadi Tabatabai, is safe and sound," added the official. He explained the protesters were contesting the results that saw the conservative candidate win. Another source told the agency that the protesters were venting their anger over alleged irregularities in the polls.
Thirty people were arrested, ISNA said. In Firouzabad in the southern province of Fars, a local politician told AFP that "three or four people" were killed and six others injured there on Saturday after similar protests. The source said the victorious conservative candidate there raised suspicions after winning an "abnormally high number of votes". -AFP
