Iran death toll passes 400

Thousands of Iranians took to the streets again as a six-week wave of nationwide protests showed no sign of abating.

Security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Zahedan in the southeast, dissidents said the regime had lost control of the northern Kurdish city of Mahabad, and half the members of the notorious Basij militia in Tehran failed to turn up for work enforcing the crackdown on protests.

Rights groups said “unlawful killings” by regime police and soldiers had killed at least eight people in four provinces within 24 hours, including two in Baneh near Iran’s western border with Iraq.