Thousands rally in Tehran and Khamenei’s hometown

Widespread Iran protests reach 13th day; rights group says at least 51 killed in crackdown

9 children said among those killed; security forces reportedly fire live rounds at protesters; reports say US, Israel reviewing assessments that demonstrations aren’t posing threat to regime

Protesters on Friday took to the streets of Iranian cities for a 13th day in a row, defying threats by authorities of a crackdown and despite reports that security forces had opened fire and killed demonstrators over the past day.

More than 51 protesters have been killed in 13 days of demonstrations in Iran sparked by anger against the regime and the rising cost of living, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said Friday.

“At least 51 protesters, including nine children under the age of 18, have been killed and hundreds more injured in the first thirteen days of the new round of nationwide protests in Iran,” said the rights group, raising a previous toll of 45 issued the day earlier.

Protests are now marked by calls for the end of the Islamist clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the pro-Western shah.

Internet monitor Netblocks said authorities had now imposed a “nationwide internet shutdown” for the last 24 hours that was violating the rights of Iranians and “masking regime violence.”

Despite the crackdown in communications, thousands took to the streets in Mashhad — Iran’s second-largest city and the hometown of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — on Friday night, an eyewitness told Iran International.

Unverified videos on social media also apparently showed large crowds protesting in the capital city of Tehran, including demonstrators chanting, “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, my life for Iran.” The slogan is seen as an expression of opposition to what protesters view as Iran’s government prioritizing foreign causes over domestic needs.

The protests represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, who called for the protests Thursday night, similarly called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. Friday.

Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.

An eyewitness who left Iran for Oman on Friday told anti-regime outlet Iran International that in his hometown of Rafsanjan, “the entire 30-Meter Street was gridlocked for five hours, packed with people chanting slogans and calling out for Prince Pahlavi,” the night before.

“All the propaganda banners belonging to the Islamic Republic along the street were set on fire. Anti-clerical slogans covered the area around the governor’s office, and people set the governor’s office itself on fire.”

The full scope of the protests is difficult to ascertain due to the communications blackout, while state media generally plays down anti-regime rallies.

However, Thursday and Friday night’s rallies appeared to represent an escalation in the growing movement.

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of people took to the streets in the Sunni-majority city of Zahedan in southeastern Iran.

The protests were largely attended by members of the Baluch ethnic group and included a women’s rally where participants were heard chanting “From Zahedan to Iran, my life for Iran” and “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return.”

The Haalvsh Baluch rights site said Iranian security forces opened fire on some of the protesters, wounding several of them.

The shooting reportedly took place near the city’s Makki Mosque, where demonstrators prayed before taking to the streets.

Additionally, disturbing footage shared by Iran International showed the bodies of seven people lying on the ground after protests in the town of Fardis, west of Tehran.

The outlet said the video was verified by fact-checking platform Factnameh, and stated that there was no official confirmation of the individuals’ condition, but that demonstrators had come under live fire.

In another video, footage showed multiple bodies on the floor at a Tehran hospital after protests on Thursday, with people crying over them.

Reassessment by US, Israel

Meanwhile, US intelligence agencies are reassessing their view from earlier this week that the protests in Iran did not pose a threat to the regime, a US official told Axios.

“The protests are serious, and we will continue to monitor them,” the senior US official said.

Israel, too, has changed its assessment and increasingly believes the uprising may become more serious and threaten the regime, Channel 12 news said in an unsourced report on Friday.

Israel has identified that protests have grown and spread to many regions, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has begun to crack down on demonstrations, indicating an intensifying situation, the report said.

Tehran claims Israel, US intervening

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister accused the US and Israel on Friday of fueling the growing protest movement in the country, while dismissing the possibility of direct foreign military intervention after US warnings over crackdowns on demonstrators.

“This is what the Americans and Israelis have stated, that they are directly intervening in the protests in Iran,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a visit to Lebanon.

“They are trying to transform the peaceful protests into divisive and violent ones,” he said, adding that “regarding the possibility of seeing military intervention against Iran, we believe there is a low possibility of this because their previous attempts were total failures.”

The exiled son of Iran’s late Shah appealed to US President Donald Trump to intervene urgently on behalf of the protesters on Friday.

“Mr. President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support and action,” Reza Pahlavi wrote on social media. “Please be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran.”

Pahlavi, who lives in the Washington area, did not specify the intervention he was seeking but pointed to both an internet blackout and the threat of the use of force against protesters.

“I have called the people to the streets to fight for their freedom and to overwhelm the security forces with sheer numbers. Last night they did that,” he wrote.

“Your threat to this criminal regime has also kept the regime’s thugs at bay. But time is of the essence. The people will be on the streets again in an hour. I am asking you to help.”

Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Though demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Trump, who ordered the bombing last year of Iranian nuclear sites in coordination with Israel, last week threatened military action if authorities kill protesters.