WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday strongly condemned the arrest of peaceful protesters in Iran and urged “all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans in several cities across Iran on Friday, Iranian news agencies and social media reports said, as price protests turned into the largest wave of demonstrations since nationwide pro-reform unrest in 2009.