304 killed in Iran protests: Amnesty

TEHRAN (AA) – At least 304 people have been killed and thousands injured in Iran in a security crackdown on protests against fuel price hikes in November, Amnesty International said Monday.

In a statement, the London-based rights group said it had collected a "harrowing testimony" that hundreds of protesters were killed by Iranian security forces between Nov. 15 and 18.

"The majority of the deaths that the organization has recorded occurred as a result of gunshots to the head, heart, neck and other vital organs indicating that the security forces were shooting to kill," it said.

Amnesty had previously put the death toll from the protests at 208, while the U.S. special representative to Iran said that up to 1,000 people may have been killed.

Demonstrations broke out on Nov. 15 across Iran after the government imposed petrol rationing and raised fuel prices by at least 50%.

At least 100 banks and dozens of shops have been set ablaze during the protests, the semi-official Mehr news agency said, quoting security officials.

Iranian officials, however, have not released official death figures.