Screenshot from a social media video released on Friday shows protesters gathering as vehicles burn amid developing anti-government unrest in Tehran. Photo: AFP
LONDON/PARIS:
Iran plunged into a near-total internet blackout on Friday as authorities moved to quell the biggest wave of anti-government protests in more than a decade, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei striking a defiant tone and insisting the Islamic republic “will not back down” despite growing unrest.
Crowds chanting anti-government slogans marched through major cities late Thursday, burning official buildings and openly calling for an end to the country’s theocratic rule, turning what was originally an economic protest movement into one of the most serious challenges to the state in its 46-year history.
Internet monitoring group Netblocks said authorities imposed a total shutdown, adding that Iran had been offline for 12 hours “in an effort to suppress widespread protests”. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the latest developments revealed “a regime that is afraid of its own people”.
In his first remarks since the protests escalated on January 3, Khamenei branded protesters “vandals” and “saboteurs” and accused the United States of fomenting unrest. He said US President Donald Trump’s hands were “stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians”.
“Everyone knows that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people, it will not back down in the face of saboteurs,” Khamenei declared on state television as supporters chanted “death to America” during the speech.
In a Fox News interview, Trump said enthusiasm for toppling Iran’s leadership was “unbelievable” and warned that if protesters were killed, “we’re going to hit them very hard.” He also suggested that Khamenei might want to leave Iran.
The protests were the largest since nationwide demonstrations in 2022-23 sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in custody. Rights groups reported clashes across the country, with the Haalvsh organization saying security forces opened fire on protesters in Zahedan after Friday prayers.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights said at least 45 people had been killed, while BBC Persian separately verified the deaths and identities of 22 people. Videos showed large demonstrations in Tabriz, Mashhad, Kermanshah and other cities, including in Iran’s Kurdish-populated west.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council accused Israel of supporting the protests, saying unrest that began with economic demands “under Israeli guidance and planning had turned into an attempt to create disorder in the country” as several flights to Tehran were cancelled.
The Revolutionary Guard warned that the situation was “unacceptable” and protecting the revolution was its “red line”, while Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said the punishment for “troublemakers” would be “decisive, the maximum and without any legal leniency”.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Washington and Israel of “directly intervening” to turn peaceful protests violent, as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said security forces had illegally used live ammunition, metal pellets, tear gas and beatings since protests broke out on December 28.
