Iranian authorities have intensified their repression of protests taking place across the country, threatening demonstrators with the death penalty, as new acts of discontent are expected on Friday night.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Islamic Republic will not tolerate “vandalism” or “people acting as mercenaries of foreign powers,” state broadcaster Press TV reported.
A Tehran prosecutor warned that anyone who damages public property could be sentenced to death. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, responsible for defending the pillars of the 1979 revolution, also released a statement saying that “the continuation of this situation is unacceptable” and that it has the right to take revenge for “terrorist acts.”
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These statements show that the government wants to further toughen its response to the nearly two weeks of protests, even as President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledges that protesters’ economic grievances are legitimate and calls on security forces to exercise restraint.
The protests are the biggest challenge to the theocratic rule of 86-year-old Khamenei since the nationwide uprising of 2022. They began in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on December 28 after Iran’s currency fell to record levels, worsening the cost of living crisis in an economy battered by sanctions.
Since the protests began, 42 people have died, according to the US-based Human Rights News Agency, which monitors demonstrations and political activists in Iran. The BBC has confirmed at least 21 of those deaths.
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The situation in the country, a member of OPEC, has worsened with corruption and the sharp drop in oil prices over the last year. A barrel of Brent crude rose around 4% this week, surpassing US$62, its biggest weekly gain since October, amid the protests.
The disturbances affected air traffic in and out of the country. Foreign airlines canceled all Friday flights between Tehran and Istanbul from 11:30 a.m. local time, with delays and cancellations also in Dubai, according to airport websites.
Monitoring group NetBlocks reported a nationwide internet blackout in Iran on Thursday. Attempts by Bloomberg to contact people in the country by landline and cell phone were unsuccessful. A Tehran resident said calls were not working or glitched, and sending SMS messages was severely restricted.
Iranian authorities often use these tactics during periods of unrest to prevent images of state violence against civilians from being released.
Even so, videos posted on X and Instagram during the early hours showed large groups of people gathered on several main streets in the capital. In one of the videos, hundreds of protesters in the Karim Khan neighborhood shouted “death to the dictator”.
In the city of Isfahan, protesters tore down the entrance sign of a state TV branch — which downplayed the protests — while flames burned in the background.
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Bloomberg was unable to verify the authenticity of the videos.
In at least one post, you can hear the chant “Long live the shah”, in reference to the late shah of Iran — deposed during the 1979 revolution — and his son, Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the USA.
Pahlavi, 65, says he wants to lead Iran’s transition to democracy and has encouraged Iranians to protest. At X, he called on the population to “increase the crowd even more” on Friday night.
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US President Donald Trump called Pahlavi a “nice person” but said he was unsure whether it would be “appropriate” to meet with him. Pahlavi’s father’s rule was widely rejected, and its fall gave rise to the Islamic Republic.
“I think we should let everybody take to the streets and see who will prevail,” Trump said in an interview. He reiterated the warning for Iran not to kill protesters, stating that “if they do so, they will pay dearly”.
Khamenei responded that Trump should “worry about governing his own country if he is capable,” and that his hands are “stained with blood” following the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran in June.
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