IRAN NABS 200 PROTESTERS

TEHRAN: Some 200 protesters marched through central Tehran yesterday as authorities braced for a possible fourth night of unrest and cut across to  social media after days of unrest that saw two people killed.

A security deputy for Tehran's governor told the ILNA  news agency that 200 people had been arrested after protests on Saturday including ''40 leaders''.

The interior ministry warned that protesters will ''pay the price'' as footage on social media showed thousands marching across the country overnight in the biggest test for the Islamic Republic since mass demonstrations in 2009.

The demonstrations began in second city Mashhad on Thursday over high living costs. but quickly spread and turned against the Islamic system as a whole, with slogans such as ''Death to the Dictator.''

After initial silence, state media has shown footage of unrest, focusing on young men violently targeting banks and vehicles, an attack on town hall in Tehran. and images of a man burning the Iranian flag.

US President Donald Trump said the ''big protests'' showed people ''were getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism.''

''Looks like they will not take it any longer,'' he wrote on Twitter, warning that Washington is ''watching very closely for human rights violations!''

Iranian authorities have sought to distinguish anti-regime protesters from what they see as as  legitimate economic grievances.

''Sedition, unrest and chaos are different from gatherings and peaceful protests to pursue people''s livelihoods,'' said parliament director for international affairs.