TEHRAN: Supporters of Iran's government poured into central Tehran yesterday for a massive rally to condemn days of "rioting" that the Islamic republic blames on its foreign foes. Waving the Iranian flag and banners that read "Death to America", they descended on Enghelab (Revolution) Square from all directions. In a shock announcement on Nov 15, Iran raised the price of petrol by up to 200 percent, triggering nationwide protests in a country whose economy has been battered by US sanctions.

Officials say the demonstrations turned violent because of the intervention of "thugs" backed by royalists and Iran's arch-enemies - the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The square filled up quickly on Monday with young and old, including clerics carrying portraits of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "Countries like America, Israel or Saudi Arabia… don't want to see us make progress, develop and have security," said a housewife at the rally. "We support our leader and, for these reasons, they tried to put a spoke in our wheel," she told AFP.

The rally was addressed by Major General Hossein Salami, head of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which helped to put down the unrest. "This war is over," Salami told the huge crowd that covered the square and spilled into side streets. "You have defeated the power of the arrogance," he said, referring to America. "The coup de grace has been delivered."

Meanwhile, Amnesty International yesterday said at least 143 demonstrators were killed across Iran since leaders ordered security forces to stamp out protests that followed fuel price rises on Nov 15. "According to credible reports… those killed include at least 143 people," said the London-based rights group. "The deaths have resulted almost entirely from the use of firearms."

It said one person reportedly died after inhaling tear gas, another after being beaten. Amnesty "believes that the death toll is significantly higher" and was still investigating, it said. Amnesty, which last week gave a death toll of more than 100, called for the international community to condemn the bloodshed. "The international community's cautious and muted response to the unlawful killing of protesters is woefully inadequate," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's research and advocacy head for the Middle East.

"They must condemn these killings in the strongest possible terms and describe these events for what they are - the deadly and wholly unwarranted use of force to crush dissent." Amnesty said "verified videos show security forces deliberately shooting unarmed protesters from a short distance. In some cases, protesters were shot while they were running away". They also showed security forces shooting from rooftops, it said, adding that the crackdown was carried out by police, Revolutionary Guards, and the Basij paramilitary force "and others".

'Red lines'
Long-fraught links between Tehran and Washington plunged to a new low in May last year when the US unilaterally withdrew from an international accord that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. In his speech, Salami issued a warning for the United States and its allies Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia. "You have received a strong slap in the face," Salami told them. "If you cross our red lines, we will destroy you."
Chants of "Death to the USA" and "Death to Israel" rang out as some in the crowd set fire to American flags. On the eve of the rally, an SMS had been sent to citizens urging them to attend the demonstration, amid an ongoing Internet outage imposed during the unrest. The near-total Internet blackout came at the height of the street unrest in a step seen as aimed at curbing the spread of videos of the violence.

Internet outage
Connectivity has returned to much of the country except for its mobile telephone networks, said NetBlocks, a site that monitors internet disruptions. NetBlocks said connectivity on Irancell was running at 100 percent, but two other key mobile service providers - MCI and RighTel - were down at one and 24 percent respectively. The unrest erupted hours after a midnight announcement that the price of petrol would be immediately raised by 50 percent for the first 60 litres and 200 percent for any extra fuel after that each month.

President Hassan Rouhani said the proceeds would allow his government to provide welfare payments to the needy. During the violence, dozens of banks, petrol pumps and police stations were torched across Iran. Officials have confirmed five people were killed, but the death toll from clashes with security forces is thought to be much higher. The United Nations said it feared that dozens died.

Authorities say they arrested 180 ringleaders. The total number of people detained remains unclear, but the UN human rights office put it at more than 1,000 last Tuesday. Rear-Admiral Ali Fadavi, deputy commander in chief of the Guards, warned Sunday that Iran would severely punish "mercenaries" arrested over the violence. Iran has blamed the unrest on the Pahlavi royal family ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and armed opposition group the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, which it considers a "terrorist" cult. - Agencies