The Iranian president on Thursday accused the United States’ nemesis of destabilizing the Islamic Republic, which has been rocked by nearly a month of women-led protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.

Outrage over the 22-year-old woman’s death three days after her arrest by Iran’s notorious vice squad has fueled the biggest wave of street protests and violence in the country in nearly three years.

Young women, students and schoolchildren were at the forefront of the protests, shouting anti-government slogans, setting fire to their headscarves and confronting security forces on the streets.

Chants of “woman, life, freedom,” the protest movement’s catchphrase, were heard again overnight in the northwestern city of Bukan, where protesters burned the Iranian flag, in video confirmed by AFP.

Protesters also rallied in the capital Tehran, Isfahan in the south, Mashhad in the northeast, Rasht in the north and Amini’s western hometown of Saqez.

Iran’s ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi again blamed the United States, its bitter enemy since the 1973 Islamic Revolution and key adversary in a standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

“Following America’s failure to militarize and sanctions, Washington and its allies have resorted to failed destabilization policies,” he said in Kazakhstan.

Gunshots and tear gas were fired on Wednesday as security forces confronted protests in which rights groups say at least 108 people have already been killed.

New online videos showed the public’s reaction to security forces as they attempted to arrest protesters, sometimes forcing officers to flee.

In video verified by AFP, women are beaten and pursued by security forces in Rasht, Gilan province.

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said workers in the energy industry have joined protest strikes this week at the Asalouyeh petrochemical plant in the southwest, Abadan in the west and Bushehr in the south.

Deadly unrest has particularly rocked Sanandaj in Amini’s western home province of Kurdistan – but also Zahedan in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Balochistan province, where demonstrations erupted on September 30 over the reported rape of a young girl by a police commander.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency charged that “law enforcement’s unregulated use of shotguns with bullets has resulted in the injury of many protesters,” including the elderly, teenagers and even children.

In a report released on Wednesday, HRANA said it had the names of at least 106 people killed by security forces and knew of another 11 dead who had not been identified.

At least 94 others were killed in Zahedan, one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shia Iran, HRANA said, adding that 20 security forces were killed, including six in Zahedan.

“The number of detainees is estimated at at least 5,500 people,” the rights group said.

As part of its widening crackdown, Iran has restricted internet access and blocked social media platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp.

The United States, which imposed fresh sanctions on Iran amid the Amini protests, said it would take steps to ensure Iranians have online access.

“Iran’s continued violent crackdown on peaceful protesters is an attack on human rights,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

“I have spoken to major US tech companies and urged them to … provide additional services and communications to the Iranian people.”

The bloody crackdown by the clerical state has drawn widespread condemnation.

“Permanent repression is not the answer,” Comfort Ero, president and CEO of think tank International Crisis Group, said in a tweet.

“The government’s violent crackdown only widens the gulf between a state that won’t give in to demands for more freedom and a society that won’t stop asking for it.”

An Iranian investigation found Amini had died of a long-standing illness rather than reporting beatings.

Her parents have denied this and have filed a complaint against the officers involved. A cousin living in Iraq told AFP news agency that she died from “a severe blow to the head”.