<p>US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday slammed Iran for using "violence" and censorship to prevent memorials for those killed during the suppression of recent protests.</p>.<p>Protests broke out on November 15 across Iran, whose economy has suffered under sweeping sanctions from the United States, after the government abruptly hiked fuel prices.</p>.<p>"The Iranian people have the right to mourn 1,500 victims slaughtered by @khamenei_ir during #IranProtests," Pompeo tweeted, directly accusing Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.</p>.<p>According to the Ilna news agency, internet access was effectively cut off Wednesday in multiple Iranian provinces ahead of memorials planned on social media a month after the protests.</p>.<p>"The regime fears its own citizens, and has once again resorted to violence and shutting down the internet," he added.</p>.<p>The United States said earlier this month that Iranian authorities may have killed more than 1,000 people in a crackdown on demonstrations in mid-November.</p>.<p>In his tweet, Pompeo cites to a much higher death toll that has already been listed by certain media outlets, as well as the exiled Mujahedin-e-Khalq, the formerly armed opposition that is fiercely critical of the regime and has cultivated close ties with the Trump administration.</p>.<p>Tehran has yet to publish its official death toll.</p>.<p>Human rights organization Amnesty International has confirmed that more than 300 people died during the protest crackdown.</p>
<p>US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday slammed Iran for using "violence" and censorship to prevent memorials for those killed during the suppression of recent protests.</p>.<p>Protests broke out on November 15 across Iran, whose economy has suffered under sweeping sanctions from the United States, after the government abruptly hiked fuel prices.</p>.<p>"The Iranian people have the right to mourn 1,500 victims slaughtered by @khamenei_ir during #IranProtests," Pompeo tweeted, directly accusing Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.</p>.<p>According to the Ilna news agency, internet access was effectively cut off Wednesday in multiple Iranian provinces ahead of memorials planned on social media a month after the protests.</p>.<p>"The regime fears its own citizens, and has once again resorted to violence and shutting down the internet," he added.</p>.<p>The United States said earlier this month that Iranian authorities may have killed more than 1,000 people in a crackdown on demonstrations in mid-November.</p>.<p>In his tweet, Pompeo cites to a much higher death toll that has already been listed by certain media outlets, as well as the exiled Mujahedin-e-Khalq, the formerly armed opposition that is fiercely critical of the regime and has cultivated close ties with the Trump administration.</p>.<p>Tehran has yet to publish its official death toll.</p>.<p>Human rights organization Amnesty International has confirmed that more than 300 people died during the protest crackdown.</p>