Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed that authorities will “not back down” in the face of the most serious wave of nationwide protests in years, blaming the United States for fomenting unrest that began over economic hardship and has rapidly expanded into calls for political reform and an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule.
In his first public remarks since demonstrations erupted nearly two weeks ago, Khamenei signalled on Friday that a harsher crackdown was imminent. He denounced protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs” acting on behalf of foreign powers, accusing them of deliberately destabilising the country to please Iran’s enemies.
“They are ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” Khamenei said, in an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump, who has issued warnings to Tehran over the treatment of demonstrators and suggested Washington could intervene if security forces carry out mass killings.
Khamenei’s remarks came as protests continued to swell despite a sweeping internet blackout and mounting reports of violence by security forces. Overnight, thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Tehran and other major cities, chanting anti-government slogans, clashing with riot police, and setting fire to symbols of state authority.
The US president, speaking to Fox News on Thursday, claimed that Iran’s leadership was under unprecedented pressure. “He’s looking to go somewhere. It’s getting very bad,” Trump said, suggesting without evidence that the supreme leader might be preparing to flee the country.
Iranian officials swiftly rejected such claims and doubled down on threats against demonstrators. In a separate speech, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei warned that the response to protests would be “decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency,” language that rights groups interpreted as a green light for mass arrests and severe sentences.
Footage shared before the internet shutdown showed crowds of thousands marching through central Tehran late Thursday night. In one widely circulated video, protesters torched part of a building belonging to Iran’s state broadcaster, a powerful symbol of the regime’s control over information. Elsewhere, demonstrators hoisted flags bearing the lion and sun emblem — Iran’s national flag prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution — a potent sign of rejection of the current system.
Similar scenes were reported in cities across the country, including Mashhad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Rasht, underscoring the nationwide nature of the unrest. Protesters chanted slogans calling for the downfall of the regime and, in some areas, voiced support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah.
Pahlavi, who lives abroad, issued a call on Thursday evening urging Iranians to take to the streets. Videos that emerged before communications were cut showed demonstrators chanting his name, including in Mashhad, Khamenei’s home town — a symbolic challenge to the supreme leader on his own turf.
The protest movement, active in all of Iran’s provinces, represents the most sustained and widespread challenge to the authorities since nationwide demonstrations in 2019. The current wave began on 28 December, sparked by a sharp depreciation of the national currency that sent prices of basic goods soaring. But economic grievances quickly merged with broader political demands, with many protesters calling for systemic change and an end to clerical rule.
Rights groups say the state response has been increasingly violent. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 42 people have been killed since the protests began, and more than 2,270 others have been detained. Activists warn the true toll may be significantly higher due to restrictions on reporting and communication.
“They’re aiming for the eyes,” said Maryam, a 25-year-old artist who took part in protests in Tehran early Friday, speaking via text message before communications were cut. “The Faraja [uniformed police], the Basij [paramilitary militia] and even plainclothes kill-squads are driving into the crowds with motorbikes. I don’t know how long the internet will be working but we are thousands on the streets and I fear I will wake up to hundreds of casualties.”
Other protesters described scenes of chaos as security forces fired live ammunition, pellets, and tear gas at largely unarmed crowds. Videos showed riot police retreating after being pelted with stones, with protesters cheering as officers abandoned vehicles.
Ali, a 21-year-old student in Tehran, said demonstrators had briefly taken control of several streets. “The cowards abandoned their vehicles and fled,” he said in a text message. “We took over the streets tonight. We will burn their vans, the same ones they use to drag our compatriots and kidnap our sisters from the streets. The country belongs to us.”
Anger toward the clerical establishment appeared to intensify as the week progressed. On Wednesday, crowds reportedly stormed a Shia seminary in the city of Gonabad, beating staff with sticks and damaging the building, according to the seminary’s director, Ismail Tavakoli. The attack highlighted how resentment toward religious institutions — long considered pillars of the Islamic Republic — has spilled into open confrontation.
For nearly two weeks, Iranian state media largely ignored or downplayed the scale of the protests. On Friday, however, official outlets acknowledged the unrest for the first time, framing it as violent riots orchestrated by “terrorist agents” backed by the United States and Israel.
State television sought to project an air of normality, airing footage of pro-government rallies and insisting that daily life continued as usual for most citizens. Anchors accused foreign media of exaggerating events and spreading disinformation.
Press TV, an Iranian state-owned English-language outlet, claimed that authorities had arrested agents linked to Israel’s Mossad who had allegedly infiltrated protest movements. The channel reported that an Israeli spy cell was planning a “false-flag killing operation” designed to blame the Iranian state for civilian deaths — claims that could not be independently verified.
Authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown at around 8pm local time on Thursday, coinciding with Pahlavi’s call for protests. The blackout made it difficult to assess the scale of demonstrations or verify casualty figures, a tactic Iran has used repeatedly during periods of unrest to limit mobilisation and international scrutiny.
Despite the communications blackout, protesters appeared to coordinate actions using prearranged times and locations. Anti-government chants reportedly rang out across multiple cities at exactly 8pm, suggesting a high degree of organisation even in the absence of online connectivity.
Until recently, the protest movement had been largely leaderless, with activists wary of rallying behind a single figure. Pahlavi’s emergence as a focal point marks a potential shift, though it remains unclear how broad or durable his support is inside Iran.
“I am proud of each and every one of you who conquered the streets across Iran on Thursday night,” Pahlavi wrote in a post on X. “I know that despite the internet shutdown and communication, you won’t leave the streets. Make sure that victory is yours!”
He later called for another round of protests on Friday night at 8pm, a move that could test both his influence and the protesters’ endurance under mounting repression.
Pahlavi’s organisation also claimed that “tens of thousands” of security personnel had signalled intentions to defect via an online platform it established, and that it had been “inundated” with messages from officers. The claim could not be independently verified, but if even partially accurate, it would represent a significant crack in the regime’s coercive apparatus.
On the ground, protesters described a mix of fear and defiance. In Rasht, a city in northern Iran, Farzad, a 37-year-old mobile phone shop owner, said demonstrators were facing riot police head-on.
“They are vulgar and say we are in bed with the Israelis and Americans,” he said. “They call us traitors. It’s them that have betrayed the very sense of being an Iranian.”
Another protester said unarmed demonstrators were responding to gunfire by throwing rocks, a desperate tactic that underscored both the imbalance of force and the depth of anger driving the movement.
As night fell on Friday, Iranians braced for another confrontation. With the supreme leader signalling zero tolerance, the judiciary threatening maximum punishment, and security forces escalating their tactics, the country appeared to be entering a decisive phase.
Whether the protests can sustain momentum under such pressure — or whether a brutal crackdown will force them off the streets — remains uncertain. What is clear is that the unrest has exposed deep fractures in Iranian society, fuelled by economic despair, political repression, and a growing sense among many citizens that the system no longer represents them.
