ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s judiciary chief on Monday warned that Tehran will offer no leniency towards “rioters”, following more than a week of protests across the country over the plunging economy.

On December 28, workers and business owners in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar went on strike, protesting the alarming devaluation of the rial against the US dollar. The demonstrations soon spread across the country, prompting violent crackdowns from Iranian authorities.

“I instruct the attorney general and prosecutors across the country to act in accordance with the law and with resolve against the rioters and those who support them... and to show no leniency or indulgence,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online cited Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei as saying.

Tehran “listens to the protesters and their criticism, and distinguishes between them and rioters,” Ejei added.

Despite an official statement acknowledging protesters’ demands, Iranian authorities have been accused of violently clamping down on gatherings, with numerous demonstrators having been killed.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that the demands of protesters in the country are “completely fair,” though warning that rioters must “be put in their place.”

The Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights Organization raised the toll to 18 on Sunday, after a protester was shot dead by government forces during demonstrations in Fars the night before.

The youngest confirmed death is 15-year-old Mustafa Falahi from Lorestan province, and the oldest is 42-year-old Ali Azizi Jaafarabadi from Kermanshah.

Additionally, hundreds have been arrested by government forces since the start of the protests.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to intervene should Iran begin killing protesters, a practice he said is the government's “custom.”

The judiciary has further warned demonstrators, ordering legal action against those accused of disrupting the market and public security, and warning that they could face charges often punishable by death under the Islamic republic’s system.