- Protests against Iran's regime intensified in Tehran amid economic hardship and repression
- Iran cut internet and phone services during nighttime demonstrations to curb protests
- Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi called for protests, urging global support and communication restoration
The protests against Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei-led Iran's Islamic regime have intensified in Tehran, with Iranians, angered by a soaring cost of living amid a flailing economy and crackdowns by security forces, taking to the streets, shouting slogans against the ruling theocratic regime.
Iran's government under President Masoud Pezeshkian cut off the country from the internet and international telephone calls as the nighttime demonstration intensified, and the head of the country's judiciary and its security forces warned of a harsh response amid calls for "freedom, freedom."
At least some of the protesters appeared to be heeding a protest call by exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could have brought a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fuelling the protests that began over Iran's ailing economy.
"Pahlavi Will Return"
Pahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 pm local time on Thursday and Friday. When the clock struck, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said.
The chants included "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the Islamic Republic!" Others praised the shah, shouting, "This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!" Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out.
"Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication," Pahlavi said. "It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals."
He went on to call for European leaders to join US President Donald Trump in promising to "hold the regime to account."
"I call on them to use all technical, financial, and diplomatic resources available to restore communication to the Iranian people so that their voice and their will can be heard and seen," he added. "Do not let the voices of my courageous compatriots be silenced."
Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past—particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn't clear whether that's support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Protest Spread Across Iran
The demonstrations that have popped up in cities and rural towns across Iran continued on Thursday. More markets and bazaars shut down in support of the protesters. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained, said the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran's civilian government and its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CloudFlare, an internet firm, and the advocacy group NetBlocks reported the internet outage, both attributing it to Iranian government interference. Attempts to dial landlines and mobile phones from Dubai to Iran could not be connected. Such outages have in the past been followed by intense government crackdowns.
Meanwhile, the protests themselves have remained broadly leaderless. It remains unclear how Pahlavi's call will affect the demonstrations moving forward.
"The lack of a viable alternative has undermined past protests in Iran," wrote Nate Swanson of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, who studies Iran.
"There may be a thousand Iranian dissident activists who, given a chance, could emerge as respected statesmen, as labor leader Lech Wałęsa did in Poland at the end of the Cold War. But so far, the Iranian security apparatus has arrested, persecuted, and exiled all of the country's potential transformational leaders."
Why Iranians Are Protesting
The current protests, the biggest wave of dissent in three years, began last month in Tehran's Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers condemning the currency's free fall. Unrest has since spread nationwide amid deepening distress over economic hardships, including rocketing inflation driven by mismanagement and Western sanctions, and curbs on political and social freedoms.
The inflation rate in December was 52 per cent year-on-year, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran, an official body.
Iranian authorities have acknowledged the economic hardships facing Iranians but accused networks linked to foreign powers of stoking the protests.
Iran's civilian government under reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has been trying to signal it wants to negotiate with protesters. Pezeshkian has sought to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters' "legitimate demands", and he urged the government to take action to improve the economic situation.
"From an Islamic perspective... if we do not resolve the issue of people's livelihoods, we will end up in Hell," Pezeshkian earlier said. But he acknowledged that there is not much he can do as Iran's rial currency has rapidly depreciated, with $1 now costing some 1.4 million rials.
Iran's Response To Protest
Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part. Iranian officials have not acknowledged the scale of the overall protests, which raged across many locations Thursday, even before the 8 p.m. demonstration. However, there have been reports regarding security officials being hurt or killed.
The judiciary's Mizan news agency reports a police colonel suffered fatal stab wounds in a town outside of Tehran, while the semiofficial Fars news agency said gunmen killed two security force members and wounded 30 others in a shooting in the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.
A deputy governor in Iran's Khorasan Razavi province told Iranian state television that an attack at a police station killed five people Wednesday night in Chenaran, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) northeast of Tehran. Late Thursday, the Revolutionary Guard said two members of its forces were killed in Kermanshah.
Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran's theocracy.
It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators.
Trump's Warning
Trump warned last week that if Tehran "violently kills peaceful protesters," America will come to their rescue." Speaking to talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump reiterated his pledge.
Iran has "been told very strongly, even more strongly than I'm speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they're going to have to pay hell," Trump said.
The US leader demurred when asked if he'd meet with Pahlavi.
"I'm not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president," Trump said. "I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges."
