Iranian protesters gathered for a third day on Monday in the capital amid public anger over the military's admission that it had shot down a civilian airliner last week, videos from inside Iran posted on social media showed.
"They killed our elites and replaced them with clerics," scores of protesters chanted at a Tehran university after the downing of the plane carrying 176 people, some of them Iranian students. There were no survivors.
This is a developing story
Video also showed dozens of police in riot gear in another area of Tehran.
Iran's police said on Monday officers had not fired bullets at protesters demonstrating over Tehran's admission, while video on social media recorded gunshots and pools of blood.
US President Donald Trump, tweeting on Sunday during the second day of Iranian demonstrations, told the authorities "don't kill your protesters."
To the leaders of Iran - DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020
Iran's government spokesman dismissed Trump's tweets, saying the US president was shedding "crocodile tears" when voicing concern for Iranians.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The demonstrations at home are the latest development in one of the most destabilizing escalations between the United States and Iran since the Iranian revolution of 1979.
Videos sent to the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran and later verified by The Associated Press show a crowd of demonstrators near Azadi, or Freedom, Square fleeing as a tear gas canister landed among them. People cough and sputter while trying to escape the fumes, with one woman calling out in Farsi: "They fired tear gas at people! Azadi Square. Death to the dictator!"
Another video shows a woman being carried away in the aftermath as a blood trail can be seen on the ground. Those around her cry out that she has been shot by live ammunition in the leg.
"Oh my God, she's bleeding nonstop!" one person shouts. Another shouts: "Bandage it!"
Tehran has acknowledged shooting down the Ukrainian jetliner in error, killing 176 people, hours after it had fired missiles at US bases to retaliate for the killing of Iran's most powerful military leader in a drone strike.
Iranian public anger, rumbling for days as Iran repeatedly denied it was to blame for Wednesday's plane crash, erupted into protests on Saturday when the military admitted it. Demonstrators turned out on Sunday and again on Monday.
"They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here," another group outside a Tehran university chanted.
Taraneh Alidoosti, one of Iran's most-famous actresses, posted a picture of a black square on Instagram with the caption: "We are not citizens. We are hostages. Millions of hostages."
Saeed Maroof, the captain of Iran's national volleyball team, also wrote on Instagram: "I wish I could be hopeful that this was the last scene of the show of deceit and lack of wisdom of these incompetents but I still know it is not."
He said that despite the qualification of Iran's national team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after years of efforts, "there is no energy left in our sad and desperate souls to celebrate."
Meanwhile, another video making the rounds showed the national symbol of Iran, four crescents and a sword in the shape of a water lily, flying through what appeared to be a 1980s-style video game like "Galaga." Music chimes when it touches oil as it fires on symbols representing people, knowledge and ultimately an airplane.
"To be continued," the caption at the end of the clip reads.
"At protests, police absolutely did not shoot because the capital's police officers have been given orders to show restraint," Hossein Rahimi, head of the Tehran police, said in a statement carried by the state broadcaster's website.
Iran's latest showdown with the United States has come at a precarious time for the authorities in Tehran and their allies across the Middle East, when sanctions imposed by the American administration have caused deep harm to the Iranian economy.
Iranian authorities killed hundreds of protesters in November in what appears to have been the bloodiest crackdown on anti-government unrest since the 1979 revolution. In Iraq and Lebanon, governments that include Iran-backed armed groups have also faced months of hostile mass demonstrations.
Trump wrote on Twitter late on Sunday that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien had "suggested today that sanctions & protests have Iran 'choked off,' will force them to negotiate."
"Actually, I couldn't care less if they negotiate. Will be totally up to them but, no nuclear weapons and 'don't kill your protesters,'" he wrote, repeating his earlier tweets making similar calls to the Iranian authorities not to open fire.
The latest flare-up began at the end of December when rockets fired at US bases in Iraq killed one American contractor. Washington accused pro-Iran militia and launched airstrikes that killed at least 25 fighters. The militia responded by trying to storm the US embassy in Baghdad for two days. Trump then ordered the strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general who led pro-Iran militia across the region.
Iran fired at US bases in Iraq on Wednesday, though no Americans were hurt. The Ukrainian plane, on its way to Kiev and carrying many Iranian dual nationals, was shot down hours later.
After days of denying blame for the crash, Iranian army generals issued profuse apologies.
Iran's president called it a "disastrous mistake." A top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander said he had told the authorities on the same day as the crash that a missile had brought down the plane, raising questions about why Iran had initially denied it.
Canadians held vigils for the victims. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told one event: "We will not rest until there are answers."
Canada's Transportation Safety Board said it had obtained visas for two of its investigators to travel to Iran.
