Protest-hit Iran says 'enemy conspiracy' defeated

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday the country's people had defeated an "enemy conspiracy" behind a wave of violent street protests and were celebrating their victory.

He blamed the days of unrest on "armed anarchists" who took to the streets "based on a plot that the region's reactionary, the Zionists and Americans had hatched," referring to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US.

The demonstrations erupted in the sanctions-hit Islamic republic on Friday after an announcement the price of petrol would be raised by as much as 200 percent with immediate effect.

Motorists blocked major roads in Tehran before the unrest spread rapidly to at least 40 urban centres, with petrol pumps torched, police stations attacked and shops looted.

Officials have confirmed five deaths, including of three security personnel stabbed by "rioters".

Thousands of mourners chanted "Death to America" at the funeral procession Wednesday for one of those killed, a Revolutionary Guard commander, in Shahriar, west of Tehran.

The UN has voiced alarm at reports of dozens of deaths, and Amnesty International said more than 100 demonstrators were believed to have been killed.

The London-based rights group added that "the real death toll may be much higher, with some reports suggesting as many as 200 have been killed".

The full extent of the bloodshed was difficult to ascertain given a near-total internet blackout now in its fourth day.

Rouhani told a cabinet meeting that "our people have been victorious against... the enemy's conspiracy.

"Those anarchists who came out to the streets were few in number," he said, insisting that "this is the biggest display of the power of the nation of Iran." Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had said earlier also that "the recent actions were security issues, not from the people.

"We have repelled the enemy."