Iranians step up protests as death toll mounts and authorities cut internet access

LAST UPDATE | 22 hrs ago

MASS ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS are taking place in Iran tonight, including in the capital Tehran. 

The twelfth night of demonstrations appear to be the biggest protests yet as people step up their challenge to the country’s clerical leadership and authorities cut internet access. 

The movement, which originated with a shutdown on the Tehran bazaar on 28 December after the rial currency plunged to record lows, has spread nationwide and is now being marked by larger-scale demonstrations, including in the capital.

A number of videos shared on social media in the last few hours appear to show large crowds of people in the streets of Tehran.

A large crowd was seen gathering on the vast Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard in the northwest of Tehran, according to social media images verified by AFP, while other images showed a crowd demonstrating in the western city of Abadan.

NetBlocks, a London-based service that monitors internet disruptions and shutdowns, reported that “live metrics show Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout”. A number of Iranian news outlets are also unavailable to access online. 

The protests have troubled the authorities under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, already battling an economic crisis after years of sanctions and recovering from the June war against Israel.

There are no photos taken in Iran today available to international media, likely due to the internet being cut.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump threatened to take severe action against Iran if its authorities “start killing people”, warning Washington would “hit them very hard”.

That message came after rights groups accused Iranian security forces of shooting at demonstrators.

Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said security forces have killed at least 45 protesters, including eight minors, since the demonstrations began.

The group said Wednesday was the bloodiest day of demonstrations, with 13 protesters confirmed to have been killed.

“The evidence shows that the scope of the crackdown is becoming more violent and more extensive every day,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding that hundreds more have been wounded and more than 2,000 arrested.

Iranian media and official statements have reported at least 21 people, including security forces, killed since the unrest began, according to an AFP tally.

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Yesterday, an Iranian police officer was killed west of Tehran trying “to control unrest”, the Fars news agency said.

‘Utmost restraint’

With the protests now spreading across Iran, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said rallies had taken place in 348 locations in all of Iran’s 31 provinces.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and a key exiled opposition figure, urged more major protests earlier today.

Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish opposition parties called for a general strike today in Kurdish-populated areas in western Iran.

The Hengaw rights group said the call had been widely followed in some 30 towns and cities, posting footage of shuttered shops in the western provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Lorestan.

It accused authorities of firing on demonstrators in Kermanshah and the nearby town of Kamyaran to the north, injuring several protesters.

IHR said a woman at a protest late Wednesday in Abadan was shot directly in the eye.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday called for “utmost restraint” in handling demonstrations, saying that “any violent or coercive behaviour should be avoided”.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, meanwhile, condemned the “excessive use of force” against protesters.

In a video verified by AFP, protesters in Kuhchenar in the southern Fars province were seen cheering overnight as they pulled down a statue of the former foreign operations commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US strike in January 2020.

‘Unlawful force’

Demonstrators are repeating slogans against the clerical leadership, including “Pahlavi will return” and “Seyyed Ali will be toppled”, in reference to Khamenei.

The movement has also spread to higher education, with final exams at Tehran’s major Amir Kabir University postponed for a week, according to ISNA news agency.

The protests are the biggest in Iran since the protest wave in 2022-2023 sparked by the custody death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.

Rights groups have also accused authorities of resorting to tactics including raiding hospitals to detain wounded protesters.

“Iran’s security forces have injured and killed both protesters and bystanders,” said Amnesty International, accusing authorities of using “unlawful force”.

With reporting from Mairead Maguire and AFP

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