A woman attending a candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the Ukraine plane crash, talks to a policeman, at the gate of Amri Kabir University in Tehran, Iran.
- Iranians staged three days of increasingly fiery protests in the latest spike of tensions after armed forces shot down a plane and its 176 passengers.
- Protesters flooded the streets of Tehran to take aim at the country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with harsh demands like "death to the dictator" displayed on homemade signs.
- Witnesses told outlets and wrote on social media that riot police fired tear gas and live ammunition at demonstrators.
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Iranians staged three days of increasingly fiery protests in response to the armed forces strike that killed 176 passengers on a commercial flight in an angry demand for the resignation of the country's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Videos posted on social media over the weekend showed authorities appearing to ramp up physical responses to the crowds, with witnesses saying that riot police fired tear gas and live ammunition at demonstrators.
The anti-government demonstrations consuming streets of Tehran and some of the country's biggest universities is a sharp pivot from protests pushing back on the US and its allies in the wake of a targeted strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military official, in accordance with orders from President Donald Trump.
See how violent protests have been plaguing Iranians since November, and how a shift in attitude is ramping up pressure on the government.