Protests against Iranian authorities that began in the Kurdish-majority city of Mahabad have spread to other Kurdish areas, Lebanon’s NOW Media reported today.

ARA News, a Syrian outlet close to the country’s Kurds, reported that at least six people have been killed in the ongoing demonstrations, while hundreds of others have been detained.

The protests quickly spread outside of Mahabad, with demonstrations erupting in the Kurdish-populated town of Sardasht some 70 kilometers to the southwest. …

Meanwhile, the vice president of the Iranian opposition Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) Hussein Yazdanpana told Asharq Alawsat that demonstrations had also been held in the nearby towns of Bukan, Shina, Marivan and Sanandaj.

Yazdanpanna also said that Iran has deployed security forces from cities such as Esfahan, Hamedan, and Kerman to put down the riots in Iranian Kurdistan. According to one activist, Iran has cut telephone lines, internet and mobile communications to Kurdistan. There is also a report on Twitter that Iran has executed four Kurdish prisoners.

The protests started last week after the death of a young woman who was reportedly escaping an Iranian official attempting to rape her.

[Photo: Zilan Qandil / YouTube ]