Video: Why Is Iran Burning? From Economic Collapse to Rising Protests

Nationwide protests challenging Iran’s theocracy reached the two-week mark Sunday, as the death toll in violence surrounding the demonstrations reached at least 116 people killed, activists said.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown to at least 116 and over 2,600 others detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The agency has been accurate in multiple rounds of previous unrest in Iran.

Iranian state TV is reporting on security force casualties while portraying control over the nation, without discussing dead demonstrators, whom it increasingly refers to as “terrorists." However, it also acknowledged protests went on into Sunday morning, with demonstrations in Tehran and in the holy city of Mashhad to the northeast.

Iran faces anti-government protests in a wave of nationwide unrest that marks the biggest challenge to the regime in years.

The protests began as demonstrations in Tehran’s bazaars over rampant inflation. The Iranian rial surged to 994,055 against the US dollar, marking a significant devaluation of the national currency in a single day. The protests morphed into an uprising against the Khamenei regime.