PARIS,
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said the Islamic republic will “not back down” in the face of nationwide protests, as authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout following the largest demonstrations seen in the country for more than three years.
The protests, sparked by rising living costs and inflation, have escalated into a broader challenge to Iran’s political system, with crowds openly calling for an end to clerical rule.
Late on Thursday, demonstrators marched through major cities chanting slogans including “death to the dictator”, a reference to Khamenei, who has ruled Iran since 1989.
Internet blackout and transport disruption
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said Iran was hit by a “total connectivity blackout” late on Thursday, adding on Friday that the country had been offline for around 12 hours in an apparent effort to suppress the protests.
Phone calls from abroad were not connecting, Iranian news websites updated only intermittently and several international flights were cancelled, including routes between Dubai and Iranian cities.
Iranian authorities have previously used internet shutdowns to curb unrest, particularly during major protest movements.
The demonstrations represent one of the most serious internal challenges to the Islamic republic in its more than 45-year history.
While earlier protests focused largely on economic grievances, including soaring inflation and the collapse of the rial, chants have increasingly targeted Iran’s leadership directly.
Rights groups say dozens of people have been killed since the protests began earlier this month, though Iranian authorities have not confirmed casualty figures.
In his first public comments since the protests escalated, Khamenei struck a defiant tone in a speech broadcast on state television.
He described protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs”, accusing them of acting on behalf of the United States and its allies.
“Everyone knows the Islamic republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people,” he said. “It will not back down in the face of saboteurs.”
Addressing supporters who chanted “death to America”, Khamenei said demonstrators had destroyed public buildings “to please the heart of the president of the United States”.
Sharp words for Trump
Khamenei accused US President Donald Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians”, an apparent reference to last year’s conflict between Iran and Israel, which Washington supported and later joined with its own strikes.
He predicted that Trump would be “overthrown”, drawing a parallel with Iran’s former imperial dynasty, which was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Trump, responding late on Thursday, said the “enthusiasm to overturn that regime is incredible” and warned that if Iranian authorities killed protesters, the United States would respond forcefully.
Protests spread across the country
AFP has verified videos showing large crowds filling parts of Tehran, including Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard, with vehicles honking in support.
Other footage showed protests in cities including Tabriz, Mashhad, Isfahan and Kermanshah, as well as in Iran’s Kurdish-populated western regions.
Some videos appeared to show protesters setting fire to buildings linked to state institutions, including regional offices of state television and governorate buildings. The images could not be independently verified.
State television broadcast footage of burning buses, cars and metro stations, accusing opposition groups, including the People’s Mujahedin Organisation, of orchestrating the unrest.
Calls for larger demonstrations
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s last shah, called on Iranians to return to the streets on Friday, saying Thursday’s rallies showed how “a massive crowd forces repressive forces to retreat”.
“The eyes of the world are upon you,” he said in a video message, urging demonstrators to increase pressure on the authorities.
Trump said on Friday he would not meet Pahlavi and expressed uncertainty about openly backing him.
Economic crisis and international pressure
Iran is grappling with a deep economic crisis, with inflation exceeding 40 per cent late last year and the rial losing roughly half its value against the dollar.
The country is also under renewed international pressure following the reimposition of sanctions linked to its nuclear programme.
A French diplomatic source urged Iranian authorities to show “maximum restraint” in their response to protesters.
While Iran has weathered major unrest before, analysts say the combination of economic hardship, political anger and international isolation makes the current crisis particularly volatile.
