Demonstrations, which began two weeks ago, represent one of the greatest challenges to the theocratic authorities that have governed the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Fears of brutal repression intensified this Saturday (10), after more than two days without internet access and the resumption of night demonstrations, in a protest movement unprecedented in three years. The protests, started two weeks ago by traders dissatisfied with the country’s economic crisis, represent one of the biggest challenges to theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the United States and is the son of the deposed shah of Iran, celebrated the “magnificent” turnout in Friday’s demonstrations and urged Iranians to organize more focused protests this weekend and to “take and control urban centers.”
Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was deposed in the 1979 revolution and died in 1980, said he is also preparing to “return to [sua] homeland” coming soon . Under these conditions, it is difficult to access any information.
“The Iranian regime has cut off communication channels within the country” and “blocked all means of contact with the outside world,” warned two prominent filmmakers and dissidents, Mohammad Rasulof and Jafar Panahi. “Experience shows that the aim of such measures is to cover up the violence inflicted during the repression of protests,” they said on the Instagram account of Panahi, winner of the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi warned on Friday that security forces may be preparing to commit a “massacre under the cover of a widespread communications blockade.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on his X account that “the United States stands with the courageous Iranian people.”
Funerals in Shiraz
Amnesty International said it was analyzing evidence that suggested the crackdown had intensified in recent days. Since the protests began on December 28, at least 51 protesters, including nine children, have died and hundreds have been injured, according to a statement released on Friday by the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.
This Saturday, state television broadcast images of the funerals of members of the security forces killed during the protests. Participation was notable in the city of Shiraz, in the south of the country.
Following Thursday’s large-scale mobilization, protests continued into Friday night in Tehran and other cities, according to images, whose authenticity was verified by AFP, that were circulated on social media via satellite links. In Tehran’s Sadatabad district, protesters banged pots and shouted “Death to Khamenei!”, while cars honked their horns in support.
Other images circulating on social media and broadcast on Persian-language television channels outside Iran show similar protests in other parts of the capital, as well as in the cities of Mashhad, Tabriz and Qom. In the city of Hamadan, a man was waving an Iranian flag from the shah’s era, with the emblem of the lion and the sun, surrounded by bonfires and people dancing, according to images circulating on social media and which AFP has not yet been able to verify.
“In the middle of war”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday criticized the “vandals” who he said were behind the protests, and accused the United States of inciting them. “We are in the midst of war,” declared Ali Larijani, one of his advisors and head of the country’s main security agency, denouncing “incidents orchestrated abroad.”
On June 22, Washington attacked Iranian nuclear facilities as part of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic Republic. “Iran has serious problems. It appears that the people are taking control of certain cities, something that no one thought possible a few weeks ago,” said United States President Donald Trump. This Saturday, Trump stated that the United States is ready to “help” the Iranians, in addition to stating that the country seeks “freedom”.
However, the Republican considered it premature for Reza Pahlavi to assume leadership. The Iranian government has not faced a protest movement of this magnitude since the marches organized in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating the women’s dress code.
These demonstrations come at a time when Iran is weakened after the war with Israel and the blows suffered by several of its regional allies, while the UN reinstated sanctions related to the country’s nuclear program in September.
*With information from AFP
