Iran plane crash: police restraint urged as videos show tear gas being fired at protesters
- Videos recorded gunshots in the vicinity of Iranian protests that were staged after Tehran admitted bringing down a passenger plane in error
- US President Donald Trump warned Iran against harming demonstrators and against a repeat of a deadly crackdown against rallies in November
“The police treated the people who had gathered with patience and tolerance” in a second night of demonstrations in Tehran on Sunday, said General Hossein Rahimi, denying that police shot at protesters.
Online videos on Monday showed chaotic scenes in the capital Tehran where riot police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Photos showed trails of blood on a main street amid reports of gunfire in the vicinity. At least one person was injured.
The videos showed protesters, many of them students chanting in opposition to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and calls to rid the country of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Videos sent to the New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran show people cough and sputter while trying to escape fumes, with one woman calling out in Farsi: “They fired tear gas at people! Azadi Square. Death to the dictator!”
Another video shows a woman being carried away in the aftermath as a blood trail can be seen on the ground. Those around her cry out that she has been shot by live ammunition in the leg.
