People are affected by tear gas fired by anti-riot Iranian police to disperse demonstrators in a protest over Iran’s weak economy, in Tehran, Iran.

:: As the protests continue in Iranian cities for the fifth day in a row, clashes between the security forces and the protesters led to the rise of the death toll to 20.

The death toll, on Monday, rose to 20; 17 demonstrators and three security men.

In the first official announcement of the deaths among security forces during the wave of protests, Iranian news agencies reported that a policeman was killed and three others were wounded by a bullet fired by a demonstrator in the city of Najafabad in Isfahan province.

The demonstrator reportedly used a hunting rifle in his attack.

According to information received by the Al Arabiya, five protesters were killed in the city of Qahdregan, the province of Isfahan, central Iran.

According to some reformist and fundamentalist news sources, the clashes occurred when protesters tried to break into the city hall’s building.

The IRNA news agency reported the killing of a security man in the city of Najafabad, in Isfahan district during clashes with protesters.

Some unconfirmed reports published by sites close to former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say that the number of people killed in the city are two men from the Revolutionary Guard.

Given the previous death toll from Iranian protesters according to official statistics, the number of the lost protestors has risen to 17.