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Iranian security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators at the Tehran bazaar on Tuesday, as an NGO said more than two dozen people had been killed in a crackdown on the most significant protests to hit the Islamic republic in three years.The protests were triggered by anger over the rising cost of living, with the Iranian rial losing value again on Tuesday to reach another record low against foreign currencies.Security forces have now killed at least 27 protesters, including five minors under the age of 18, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said. Iranian authorities say members of security forces have also been killed, including a policeman who was shot dead on Tuesday.The protest wave began on December 28 with a shutdown by merchants in the Tehran bazaar, a national economic hub. They have since spread to other areas, especially the west, which is home to Kurdish and Lor minority groups.It is the most serious protest movement in Islamic republic since the 2022-2023 nationwide rallies sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.Iran’s Fars news agency said “sporadic gatherings” took place around the bazaar during an afternoon shutdown, with police dispersing the protest and demonstrators scattering into the alleyways nearby. In social media footage verified by AFP, protesters at the scene could also be heard shouting slogans including “Pahlavi will return” and “Seyyed Ali will be overthrown” — references to the monarchy ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Dozens of people are seen shouting “freedom” and “shameless” in footage posted by IHR and the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA). Security forces then fire tear gas at the protesters, who rush to disperse as acrid smoke rises from the ground. The official IRNA news agency said “some” people were arrested, without giving numbers.With protests continuing in other areas for a tenth day, HRNA posted footage of large crowds of people marching in protests through Abdanan in western Iran shouting slogans including “this is the last message, the entire regime is the target”.- ‘Crush dissent’ -The demonstrations have yet to reach the scale of the 2022-2023 movement, let alone that of the mass 2009 street protests that followed disputed elections.But against the background of an economic crisis and on the heels of the 12-day war against Israel in June, they present a new challenge for the leadership under 86-year-old Khamenei, in power since 1989.The government of President Masoud Pezeshkian has announced modest monthly payments for people to alleviate the economic pain, but the head of the judiciary warned Monday that there would be no leniency for “rioters”.According to official announcements in Iranian media, at least 13 people have been killed since the protests began, including members of the security forces. But IHR said: “At least 27 protesters have been killed by gunfire or other forms of violence carried out by security forces in eight provinces. Five of those killed have been verified to have been children.”It added that more than 1,000 people had been arrested nationwide.IHR said security forces killed at least six people in a single incident alone on Saturday when they opened fire on protesters in the Malekshahi district of the western Ilam province.It also accused authorities of raiding the main hospital in Ilam the day after to detain injured protesters.Amnesty International said on Tuesday that the “attack” on the hospital “exposes yet again how far the Iranian authorities are willing to go to crush dissent”.Pezeshkian has ordered his interior minister to investigate “thoroughly, comprehensively and expertly” what happened in Ilam province, according to the presidential website.With tensions continuing in the area, a policeman was shot dead Tuesday after being “directly hit by rioters’ bullet” in Malekshahi, the Fars news agency said.IHR said Iranian authorities also raided a hospital in the Hasanabad district of Tehran Tuesday, firing tear gas.The Iranian currency meanwhile fell in value to approximately 1.47 million rials to the dollar, according to the informal black market rate and several currency monitoring websites. On December 28, a previous low in the rial — then at 1.43 million to the dollar — had driven traders into the streets and sparked the protest movement.

The Israeli foreign minister arrived in Somaliland on Tuesday in a high-profile visit, condemned by Somalia as an “unauthorised incursion”, after Israel recognised the breakaway region in the Horn of Africa.Israel announced last month it was officially recognising Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic since it declared independence from Somalia in 1991.Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own currency, passport and army, but has struggled to win international recognition, amid fears of provoking Somalia and encouraging other separatist movements in Africa.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, whose delegation was welcomed at the airport by senior government officials, said recognising Somaliland had been “the moral thing to do”.Somaliland President Abdirahman Abdullahi Mohamed praised Israel’s “courageous” decision, and said it would open up economic and development opportunities.”It promotes the strategic interest partnership of the two countries,” he said in a joint press conference.Somalia reacted furiously to news of the visit, labelling it an “illegal” and “unauthorised incursion”.In a statement, Somalia’s foreign ministry said it “reserves the right to take all appropriate diplomatic and legal measures… to safeguard its sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity”.A special meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council on Tuesday condemned “in the strongest terms” the recognition by Israel and called for its “immediate revocation”.The Arab League said in a statement that “any official or quasi-official dealings” with officials in Somaliland treated as separate from Somalia was a “flagrant violation of Somalia’s unity and sovereignty”.The move would “undermine regional peace and security and exacerbate political tensions in Somalia, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa”, the League added.Following Israel’s recognition, Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, which has fought the Somali government for around two decades, said they would fight any attempt by Israel to use Somaliland as a base.- ‘Threat’ to stability -Analysts say the deal with Somaliland could provide Israel with better access to the Red Sea, enabling it to hit Houthi rebels in Yemen.Somaliland’s location alongside one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes has made it a key partner for foreign countries.Israel’s recognition was supported by the United States, but criticised by Egypt, Turkey, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The European Union insisted Somalia’s sovereignty should be respected.Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called the Israeli decision a “threat” to stability in the already volatile Horn of Africa.In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said Somaliland had accepted three conditions from Israel: the resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of a military base on the Gulf of Aden, and joining the Abraham Accords to normalise ties with Israel.Somaliland’s foreign ministry denied the first two conditions.The region has experienced greater stability than the rest of insurgency-hit Somalia.It was briefly a recognised state in June 1960 when it gained independence from Britain, but voluntarily united with Italian-administered Somalia days later.Somaliland’s leaders say that union was never formally ratified and became void when the Somali state effectively collapsed in 1991.