Two weeks after protests first gripped Iran — and quickly turned deadly — the government has officially acknowledged that security officials used firearms to tamp down the widespread demonstrations. A report on state television on Tuesday said that some of the protesters killed in the crackdown were “rioters who have attacked sensitive or military centers with firearms,” and described how the armed forces had “deftly and vigilantly” fought back against “hostile groups,” according to a translation from The Associated Press. The comments were among the first admissions by the Iranian authorities that security officers had responded to the demonstrations with lethal force. Iranian officials on Tuesday also denounced reports of the death toll that have emerged since the protests began, saying that the number of victims was much lower but not specifying how many. About 180 to 450 people are believed to have been […]