News agency reports 2 dead in Iran protest

TEHRAN, Iran – A semi-official news agency is quoting Iranian authorities who say two people have been killed and 48 injured in a violent protest in southwest Iran.

The Saturday report from ISNA quotes Chief Justice of Fars Province Ali Alghasimehr as saying that many of the injured in the Wednesday night protest in Kazeroon were police.

The report did not say how the fatalities or injuries occurred.

Protesters gathered in response to a call on social media in the city some 900 kilometres (560 miles) south of Tehran. They also set fire to a police station.

Until Wednesday, the city had been the scene of peaceful protests against a local government decision to divide some districts of the city and merge them into a new town.