Speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency on Wednesday, an unnamed Iranian security source cited the cases of two girls fatally shot by armed mercenaries in the cities of Isfahan and Kermanshah.

The eight-year-old girl in Isfahan was shot in the stomach, chin, and back of the head while she was out shopping with her family, the source said, adding that the forensic analysis of her body showed Israeli military-grade bullets had been used in the shooting.

The source also said that the second case involved Melina Asadi, 3, who was shot from behind by terrorists in Kermanshah on January 7 while returning with her father from a pharmacy.

Late last month, economic hardships, caused and exacerbated by years of Western sanctions, sparked a wave of peaceful protests among merchants in the Iranian capital of Tehran and other cities.

Authorities acknowledged the protesters' demands as legitimate, but the demonstrations were hijacked by rioters backed by American and Israeli regime leaders, who publicly called for vandalism and disorder.

Officials stated that some of the mercenaries were armed, trained, and recruited by US and Israeli regime spy agencies to incite violence, damage public property, and kill civilians and members of security forces.

In a statement on Wednesday, Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said a total of 3,117 people had lost their lives during the riots.

It noted that 2,427 of those killed were innocent civilians and security personnel.

Many of the martyrs were bystanders and protesters who were shot dead by organized terrorist elements, it said.