Deaths have topped 100 as authorities crack down hard on anti-government protests that have entered a second week in Iran.
On the 10th (local time), the Associated Press said at least 116 people had died as of the day after anti-government protests in Iran that began on the 28th of last month. The figure is a sharp rise from 65 as of the previous day.
It was not immediately clear how many of the dead were protesters.
According to the U.S. human rights group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), more than 2,600 people have been detained in connection with the protests.
Since the 8th, international phone calls and the internet have been cut off in Iran, making it difficult to assess the situation on the ground, but evidence is steadily emerging that the protests are intensifying.
Videos on social media (SNS) showed thousands taking to the streets to protest in northern Tehran. At hospitals, bodies were seen stacked in layers.
State TV in Iran, however, has not mentioned deaths among protesters and has reported only that there have been deaths among security forces.
According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Iranian authorities arrested about 200 members of an "operational terror team," who were found carrying firearms, grenades and gasoline bombs.
Iranian authorities are maintaining a hard-line stance that anyone who takes part in the protests will face the death penalty.
Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, Iran's prosecutor general, released a statement on state TV on the day warning, "Anyone who participates in the protests will be considered an enemy of God."