A protester was run over and killed by a car as around 124,000 people protested against soaring fuel prices throughout France on Saturday.

Iran Press/Europe: The death occurred when a female driver arrived at a blockade for an undeclared protest not far from the city of Lyon, "panicked" and ran over someone, CNN reported.

Speaking about the death, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said: "that's the reason why we were worried to have people (who are) not experienced organizing protests."

Police deployed large forces to the areas where protests were held, but failed to bring the situation fully under control as, according to the Interior Ministry, 47 people were injured during the protests, with three in critical condition.

Ecology Minister François de Rugy called on citizens to "respect caution and safety recommendations" in order for protests to go ahead "without a new tragedy," in a tweet Saturday.Mass demonstrations causing roadblocks across the country are scheduled to take place as part of the "gilets jaunes" or "yellow vests" movement in response to mounting gas prices and eco-taxes on polluting forms of transport.

Interior Ministry officials told a news conference that about 125,000 people in total had taken part in some 2,000 rallies across the country.

The protest was billed as likely to be one of the toughest tests yet of Emmanuel Macron's 18-month presidency.

Diesel prices have surged 16% this year from an average €1.24 ($1.41) per liter to €1.48 ($1.69), even hitting €1.53 in October, according to UFIP, France's oil industry federation.

The price hike is largely caused by a leap in the wholesale price of oil, with Brent Crude oil -- a benchmark for worldwide oil purchases -- increasing by more than 20% in the first half of 2018 from around $60 a barrel to a peak of $86.07 in early October.

It is while on November 4. In the second round of sanctions against Iran, US targeted 700 individuals, banks, aircraft, ships and companies tied to Iran’s energy and financial industries which the US unilateral conduct will certainly increases the price of oil even more than now.

Related news:

Iran's oil minister: If US lifts sanctions on Iran, oil prices will come down

International energy institutions had previously estimated Iran's oil exports below one million barrel a day in the era of the new US sanctions.

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