Fresh Protests Erupt in Iran as Internet Blackout Raises Fears of Crackdown

Fresh mass protests erupted across major Iranian cities overnight, as activists warned on Saturday that authorities may be intensifying a violent crackdown under the cover of a nationwide internet blackout.

The renewed demonstrations come after two weeks of unrest that have posed one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocratic leadership since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the protests on the United States and vowed to resist what he described as foreign interference.

Following the largest protests recorded so far on Thursday, new rallies broke out late on Friday, according to images verified by AFP and videos circulated on social media.

The protests continued despite a nationwide internet shutdown imposed by the authorities. Internet monitoring group Netblocks said early Saturday that the blackout had remained in place for about 36 hours.

Rights activists say the communications blackout has heightened fears that security forces are escalating repression with little chance of evidence reaching the outside world.

Amnesty International said it was assessing “distressing reports” that Iranian security forces had intensified the unlawful use of lethal force against protesters since Thursday, leading to further deaths and injuries.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi warned that the authorities could be preparing a “massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout”. She said she had received reports of hundreds of protesters being treated for eye injuries at a single hospital in Tehran.

Rights groups have previously accused Iranian security forces of deliberately targeting protesters’ eyes with birdshot during past demonstrations.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said at least 51 people have been killed in the crackdown so far, warning that the actual death toll may be higher.

Award-winning Iranian filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi accused the authorities of using “the most blatant tools of repression”, citing the internet blackout.

In Tehran’s Saadatabad district, videos verified by AFP showed residents banging pots, chanting anti-government slogans, including “death to Khamenei”, as motorists honked in support.

Similar protests were reported in other parts of Tehran, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, the northern city of Tabriz and the holy city of Qom.

In the western city of Hamedan, footage showed a man waving a pre-revolution Iranian flag featuring the lion and sun, as fires burned and crowds danced. Other unverified videos showed protesters dancing around fires on highways in northern Iran and marching through parts of Mashhad, chanting anti-government slogans.

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s former shah, praised the scale of Friday’s protests and called for more coordinated demonstrations over the weekend.

He urged protesters to move beyond street rallies and focus on seizing and holding city centres.

Authorities, however, say several members of the security forces have been killed during the unrest.

In a defiant address on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei condemned what he described as “vandals” and accused the United States of orchestrating the protests.

State television on Saturday aired footage of funerals for security personnel killed in the clashes, including a large ceremony in the southern city of Shiraz.

Iran’s army said it would “vigorously protect and safeguard national interests” against what it described as an enemy seeking to disrupt peace and order.

National Security Council chief Ali Larijani said the country was “in the middle of a war”, claiming the unrest was being directed from outside Iran.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Friday again declined to rule out further military action against Iran, following Washington’s backing of Israel during its 12-day conflict with Tehran in June.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” Trump said, claiming protesters were taking control of areas that had previously been considered untouchable.