At least one dead in Iran following anti-government protest

A violent protest in the southwestern Iranian city of Kazeroon has left at least one person dead and six others injured, the country's semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

A small crowd gathered in Kazeroon for a protest on Wednesday night, around 900 kilometers (560 miles) south of Tehran, where a police station was set alight, according to the agency.

The city has seen peaceful protests against a local government decision to divide some districts of the city and merge them into a new town.

Authorities had promised the separation would not take place following previous protests.

Kazeroon has a population of close to 150,000 people, is the home to the Qashqai tribe, some of whom traditionally carry hunting guns.

In late December and early January, protests against the country's stalled economy took place across Iran.

Some of these demonstrations later directly challenged the government with ruthless crackdown launched by authorities.

It has been estimated that 3,700 anti-regime protestors were arrested, nearly ten percent of the 42,000 who are believed to have took to the streets during the demonstrations.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tried to dismiss the unrest as a US-Israeli conspiracy to overthrow the Tehran government.

He accused the US and "the Zionists" of spending months preparing demonstrations in small towns in the hope that they would spread to the capital.

"In the recent days' incidents, enemies of Iran utilised various means - including money, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatuses - to create problems for the Islamic system," he said.

The anti-government demonstrations were the biggest such movement in the tightly controlled country since protests over a disputed election in 2009.