Amid ongoing protests in Iran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iranians on Thursday to send photos and other information documenting repression, while vowing to sanction “abuses” by the Islamic republic.

Taking to Twitter, Pompeo tweeted, “I have asked the Iranian protestors to send us their videos, photos and information documenting the regime’s crackdown on protestors”.

I have asked the Iranian protestors to send us their videos, photos, and information documenting the regime’s crackdown on protestors. The U.S. will expose and sanction the abuses. https://t.co/korr5p0woA

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— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 21, 2019

“The US will expose and sanction the abuses”, Pompeo further posted.

Unrest spread to scores of urban centres, during which protesters attacked police stations, torched petrol pumps and looted shops.

Earlier on Thursday, President Donald Trump accused Iran of blocking the internet to cover up “death and tragedy”.

Trump took to Twitter, saying “Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System so that the Great Iranian people cannot talk about the tremendous violence taking place within the country”.

Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System so that the Great Iranian people cannot talk about the tremendous violence taking place within the country….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2019

A near-total internet shutdown has made obtaining information on bloodshed difficult. Officials have confirmed five deaths, but Amnesty International has said the real death toll could be well over 100.

Last week, massive protests broke out across the country after the government began rationing on the purchase of gasoline and substantially increased the price of fuel in a move aimed at assisting the needy

Addressing the nation, President Hassan Rouhani said that the government had no intention to receive any portion of the hike despite the economic woes in the country.

Angry protesters in Ahvaz, the capital city of Khuzestan, as well as in Behbahan, Mahshahr, and Omidiyeh chanted slogans against President Hassan Rouhani and his administration.

Earlier in the month, President Rouhani had said that the Islamic republic “will proudly bypass sanctions” by the United States that took effect, targeting the country’s oil and financial sectors.

The rallies coincided with the siege of the US embassy on November 4, 1979, which took place soon after the fall of the US-backed shah.

Some 52 Americans were held hostage in the embassy for 444 days and the two countries have been enemies ever since.