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Source: https://time.com/7345092/iran-protests-death-toll-regime-crackdown/
More than 200 Dead in Tehran as Regime Opens Fire on Protesters
(TIME) Roxana Saberi - As protests against Iran's government swelled significantly in size on Thursday night, the regime responded in many places by opening fire. A Tehran doctor told TIME that six hospitals in the capital had recorded at least 217 protester deaths, "most by live ammunition." The crackdown was presaged by the regime's near-total shutdown of the Internet and phone connections. The demonstrations now span all 31 provinces. A riot-police officer in a Kurdish city in northwest Iran told TIME on Wednesday that "there is 100% confusion" within the riot police. "There is chaos everywhere, in the city, in homes, in the streets and within the police forces, too. I know all the officers in my station, and they believe the regime is collapsing." The biggest wild card is the security apparatus itself. While observers saw few significant signs of defection at the leadership level, they said every round of protests sees more rank-and-file police and members of the Basij (a volunteer militia of regime loyalists) refusing to take part in a crackdown.