An Iranian lawmaker from western Iran says at least six protesters have been killed in the northwestern city of Mahabad during the past three days.

In an interview with Rudaw news channel, Jalal Mahmoudzadeh, the representative of Mahabad in the parliament, said these civilians were killed by the direct fire of the security forces.

Mahmoudzadeh further added that he is going to question the interior minister about the results of his investigation into these deaths.

This MP’s remarks come as the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization says at least 18 people have been killed in West Azerbaijan province since the beginning of the nationwide protests.

Mahabad in West Azarbaijan province, with a large Kurdish population, has been the hotbed of fierce clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces within the past few days.

Last Thursday, large crowds took to the streets in this city taking control of the governorate and some other buildings. It was after the funeral ceremony of 35-year-old Esmail Moloudi who had been killed during protests the night before.

Meanwhile, the protests against clerical rule continued on Tuesday despite the threats by the authorities. University students across the country staged strikes, sit-ins, and demos to vent anger at government’s inhumane policies.

In Tehran, universities of Beheshti, Sharif, Al-Zahra, Amirkabir, Kharazmi, Allameh, Azad North, and Azad East were the scene of anti-government protests mostly calling for the release of the detained students.

In Amol, Esfahan, Yazd, Mashhad and other cities the students also held sit-ins and chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic.

The students at the Mashhad University of Journalism announced that they will not attend classes until further notice due to the arrest, threat and suspension of students across the country.

Videos received by Iran International show students at Tehran’s Beheshti University chanting, “The university has become a prison, at Sharif, Beheshti, and Tehran...”

Reports say within the past few days, the security office at Malayer University in Hamedan province has threatened to suspend and expel nearly 200 students.

In addition to universities, school students also held protests and chanted slogans on Tuesday.

Social media videos show the female students in Karaj and Shahryar near Tehran poured into streets chanting “All these years of crime, death to this leader [Khamenei].”

Another video shows schoolgirls in Sanandaj march shouting “Women, Life, Freedom.”

Reports coming from Sistan and Baluchestan province in the southeast say on Tuesday hundreds of citizens prevented the extraction of gold from the Taftan mine.

Taftan is one of the largest gold mines in Iran, but the people declared “this mine belongs to the Baluch nation, and they will never allow the wealth of Baluchistan to be extracted and spent by outsiders.”

The total amount of gold that can be extracted from the mines in the province is estimated to be 38 tons, but only 12 to 13 percent of the native people have been able to work in these mines. Some clan chiefs said Tuesday that “We will be buried here, but we won’t let you loot the mines.”

At the same time, Molavi Abolhamid, the Sunni Imam of Zahedan, addressed the government in a tweet saying “For 43 years, with the support of the good people of Iran, the government has worked; now when the people are weary of the actions of officials, should we resort to repression, force and violence? Have you thought that you will have to live with these people in the future?”

In the meantime, the Youths of Tehran and Tabriz Neighborhoods called on people to hold anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday November 2 in all cities.

“The child-killing and brutal regime should not assume they can continue the crime and killing forever! Let Khamenei and his followers know they must pay for all the blood they have shed,” their statement released on social media said.