several Iranian cities. The protests began in Isfahan and continued in Karaj. In videos that circulated on social media, purportedly filmed in the town of Gohardasht, a suburb of Karaj, dozens of demonstrators were seen in the streets setting fire to police vehicles and shouting "Death to the dictator". Police responded with tear gas. The authenticity of the videos could not immediately be verified. Protests broke out on 2 August across several Iranian cities, including Mashhad, Kara, and Shiraz, and Tehran. Chants during demonstrators included "death to the dictator". On 3 August, street protests took place in the capital Tehran, and nine other cities: Ahvaz, Hamedan, Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Shiraz, Urmia and Varamin. Some citizen journalist reports said Iranian security forces tried to break up the demonstrations with tear gas and by beating and arresting protesters. But, there were no credible reports about how many Iranians were hurt and detained by the authorities. Protesters also targeted a religious school in Karaj province near Tehran. Pro-government rallies The December protests coincided with the annual rally commemorating the 9 Dey rally, 4,000 people attended to support the government. On 3 January, thousands of counter protesters marched in pro-government rallies which were broadcast on national television, against alleged US involvement in the unrest. According to The Washington Post, the rallies appeared like "state-organized gatherings", while the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars News Agency described them as "the revolutionary outburst of Iranian people against lawbreakers". Pro-government rallies continued in the following days in several Iranian cities. Reuters described these rallies as "staged". March 2018 The 2018 Khuzestan protests, that are dubbed “the Uprising of Dignity”, were a series of protests by Iranian Arabs located in the Khuzestan province of Iran. The protests started on 28 March 2018, and were against discrimination towards the ethnic Arab minority. They started after a popular Iranian cartoon show that used figurines to depict the different ethnicities of Iran, ignored the Arab minority located in Khuzestan. About 200 people were arrested by the security forces in April 2018. There may have been one death; there were 11 injuries.11 Casualties In the first four days of protests, 12 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces. On 1 January, state media reported the death of a security force member in Tehran, after he was shot with a hunting rifle. As of 2 January, a total of 21 protesters have been killed.