Iran Says Arrested Foreign-Backed Protest ‘Ringleaders’

(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards said several alleged ringleaders of the recent unrest in the country have been arrested by intelligence services.

The unidentified individuals had links to foreign security services, the Guard’s official news service Sepah News reported Thursday, citing spokesman General Ramezan Sharif. The arrests were made in the provinces of Alborz, Tehran, Fars and oil-rich Khuzestan, which borders Iraq.

On Tuesday, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International said at least 106 people had been killed in protests since Friday that erupted across Iran after the government increased gasoline prices.

To contact the reporter on this story: Golnar Motevalli in Dubai at gmotevalli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Karl Maier

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