ran was gripped overnight by mass protests denouncing the Islamic republic
The protests have spread across much of Iran over the last two weeks, beginning in response to soaring inflation but quickly turning political, with protesters calling for clerical rulers to step down.
Here are the top developments in Iran's protests that have entered the 14th day
- Iran was gripped overnight by mass protests denouncing the Islamic republic, as the son of the ousted shah urged protesters on Saturday to "prepare" to seize city centres. "Our goal is no longer merely to come to the streets. The goal is to prepare for seizing the centres of cities and holding them," US-based Reza Pahlavi said.
- Reza Pahlavi praised the "magnificent" turnout on Friday and urged Iranians to stage more targeted protests this Saturday and Sunday.
- The Iranian army said on Saturday it would safeguard strategic infrastructure and public property and urged Iranians to thwart "the enemy's plots", as the clerical establishment steps up efforts to quell the country's biggest protests in years.
- US President Donald Trump said his administration had issued a clear warning to Tehran against killing protesters, signalling potential US action if such actions occurred. “And that doesn't mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said.
- Trump said on Thursday he was not inclined to meet Pahlavi, a sign that he was waiting to see how the crisis plays out before backing an opposition leader.
- Khamenei, in a defiant speech on Friday, lashed out at "vandals" and vowed the Islamic republic would "not back down".
- The protests that have been ongoing for two weeks have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has slammed the US government and protesters and said that protesters are "ruining their own streets ... in order to please the president of the United States."
- At least 62 people have been killed in the protests over Iran's ailing economy, which have morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in years.
- Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi warned on Friday that security forces could be preparing to commit a "massacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout".
- State media said a municipal building was set on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran, and blamed "rioters". State TV broadcast footage of funerals of members of the security forces it said were killed in protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
