Iranian security forces have clamped down on protests over the government's mismanagement of its response to a strong earthquake over the weekend that killed at least three people and injured hundreds in the northwestern city of Khoy.
Videos published on social media show security forces used a water cannon to disperse people who had gathered in front of the regional administration building in Khoy city, which was rocked by the 5.9 magnitude earthquake on January 28.
Panicked residents fled their homes during the tremor as buildings collapsed and cars were overturned. Hundreds have been forced to seek shelter from freezing winter conditions in evacuation centers as more than 20 aftershocks rocked the region.
The shallow quake hit the city of Khoy, with a population of around 200,000, in West Azerbaijan Province, according to the Seismological Center of the University of Tehran.
People were seen wrapped in blankets and huddling around fires in the snow-dusted region in images published by Iranian media, as state TV broadcast footage of major damage to residential buildings, including half-destroyed houses.
Local sources report that two days after the earthquake, people are still in need of basic relief equipment, including tents, heating devices, and food.
Many on social media, including Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran and an opposition leader, condemned the government for being quick to send riot police to the region instead of relief equipment.
On Twitter on January 29, while sympathizing with the bereaved families, Pahlavi said that the Islamic republic, "instead of providing quick and appropriate relief to the earthquake victims, has sent forces and tools of repression."
The earthquake comes as Iran finds itself engulfed in a wave of protests following the September 16 death of a young woman while in custody for allegedly violating the country's head-scarf law.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that as of January 29, at least 527 people had been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces muzzle dissent.
