Demonstrators rioted in Iran’s streets into Saturday morning, resisting authorities’ escalating crackdown on the growing protest movement.
An internet shutdown imposed by authorities on Thursday has largely cut off protesters from the rest of the world, but videos trickling out of the country showed thousands of people gathering on the streets of Tehran. They chanted “Death to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei” and “Long live the Shah” in honor of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Crowds of protesters marched through the streets of Mashhad as fires flared all around them, a sign of local defiance for Khamenei, who has denounced the protesters as “subversives” and accused the United States of fanning the flames of the protests.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iranian authorities kill protesters, earning him an angry rebuke from authorities in Tehran. On Friday, President Trump said Iranian authorities were “in a dire situation,” adding: “You better not start shooting, because we’re going to start shooting.”
A blackout of the internet and mobile phone lines means it is difficult for international media to estimate the scale of the demonstrations, the largest in Iran in recent years and a serious challenge to the regime’s rule.
But several videos released by the state and activists who managed to circumvent the blackout through the Starlink satellite system described angry protesters and a heavy-handed police response.
“We are standing up for the revolution, but we need help. Snipers are stationed behind the Talysh Arg area (a wealthy area of Tehran),” a protester in Tehran told the Guardian in sporadic text messages sent through Starlink. Demonstrators said many people were shot across the city, adding that they “saw hundreds of bodies.”
The Guardian has not been able to independently verify the protesters’ claims, and human rights activists say it is difficult to verify the reported abuses.
However, another activist in Tehran told the Guardian that he witnessed security forces firing live ammunition at demonstrators, killing “many, many” people. Human rights activists, meanwhile, said claims of police brutality were consistent with testimonies they had given.
The US-based Human Rights Defenders News Agency said at least 65 people had been killed in violence over the protests and more than 2,300 others were detained by authorities.
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi warned on Friday that security forces may be preparing “a massacre under the cover of a massive communications blackout” and said he had already received reports that hundreds of people were being treated for eye injuries at one Tehran hospital.
Demonstrators took to the streets on December 28 due to the worsening economy, but soon began chanting anti-government slogans and demanding political reform.
Iran has experienced large-scale protests in the past, but analysts say the overthrow of the regime during its 12-day war with Israel and the loss of Iranian-backed forces across the region have made the country even more vulnerable.
Iranian authorities have become increasingly confrontational in their rhetoric against the protesters, accusing them of being infiltrated and supported by Israeli and American saboteurs. Iran’s military vowed in a statement on Saturday to thwart “enemy plots” and warned that undermining the country’s security was a “red line that must not be crossed.”
State television tried to project a sense of normalcy as the protests continued, describing them as a minor deviation from the peaceful country. A state television anchor warned demonstrators to stay home and told parents to stop their children from demonstrating. They said, “If something happens, if someone gets hurt, if a bullet gets shot, if something happens, don’t complain.”
The international community supported the protesters, with EU countries and the United States posting messages of support. “The United States stands with the brave Iranian people,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday’s X Broadcast.
Iranian authorities have attempted a carrot-and-stick approach, distinguishing between “legitimate” protesters expressing economic grievances and “insurgents” backed by foreign powers seeking to destabilize Iran. The government says it is holding talks with the former, but human rights groups say there has been an increase in general violence directed at demonstrators at the hands of security forces.
A video reviewed by Iranian human rights groups showed the anguished family examining piles of bodies at Tehran’s Ghadir Hospital on Thursday. Human rights groups said the bodies were those of protesters killed by authorities.
Fars News Agency, a news agency close to Iran’s security authorities, aired footage that appeared to be a forced confession from a protester. Human rights activists have warned that although forced confessions are themselves a human rights violation, they are often used as evidence for executions in Iran.
Despite the crackdown, further protests were planned for the weekend. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s former king, called on Saturday for protesters to take to the streets on Saturday and Sunday. He called on protesters to raise the pre-1979 “lion and sun” flag used during his father’s rule.
Pahlavi has become increasingly popular during the latest protests, with large crowds chanting support for the Shah and calling for his return from exile. Protesters appear to have answered his last call for mobilization in Iran and see him as an alternative to the theocracy currently in power.
He also claimed that tens of thousands of police officers have indicated their intention to defect through an online platform he runs, and called on Iranian security officials to help slow or prevent a crackdown on protesters from within.
Continued internet blackouts have made it difficult to document both the strength of the protests and the violations committed against demonstrators, and activists are working to create workarounds. They called on the media to continue reporting on the worsening atrocities in Iran.
“I want them to clearly state that they are killing people with live ammunition,” said an Iranian activist.
