Protests are continuing across Iran amid a nationwide internet blackout, with reports of escalating violence and a growing number of arrests. Wednesday was the bloodiest day of demonstrations so far, with 13 protesters confirmed killed, according to an NGO.
Iran Protests: Escalating Violence and Internet Shutdown
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that rallies have taken place in 348 locations across all 31 of Iran’s provinces. Despite a crackdown, protests were again taking place Thursday night, with crowds gathering on Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard in Tehran and in the western city of Abadan, according to social media images verified by AFP.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday called for “utmost restraint” in handling demonstrations, stating that “any violent or coercive behaviour should be avoided.” However, rights groups accuse authorities of using “unlawful force,” and of raiding hospitals to detain wounded protesters.
According to an AFP tally, Iranian media and official statements report at least 21 people, including security forces, have been killed since the unrest began. On Wednesday, an Iranian police officer was killed west of Tehran while attempting “to control unrest,” the Fars news agency said.
The Hengaw rights group reported that a call for a general strike in Kurdish-populated areas of western Iran was widely followed in some 30 towns and cities, with footage showing shuttered shops in the provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Lorestan. The group also accused authorities of firing on demonstrators in Kermanshah and Kamyaran, injuring several protesters. IHR reported that a woman protesting in Abadan on Wednesday was shot directly in the eye.
Demonstrators are chanting slogans against the clerical leadership, including “Pahlavi will return” and “Seyyed Ali will be toppled,” referencing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Reza Pahlavi, son of the shah ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, urged further major protests on Thursday.
In Kuhchenar, in the southern Fars province, protesters were seen pulling down a statue of Qassem Soleimani, the former foreign operations commander of the Revolutionary Guards who was killed in a US strike in January 2020, in a video verified by AFP.
The protests are the largest in Iran since those sparked in 2022-2023 by the custody death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women. Final exams at Tehran’s Amir Kabir university have been postponed for a week, according to ISNA news agency.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul condemned the “excessive use of force” against protesters. Netblocks reported Thursday that “live metrics show Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout.”
The IHR director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, stated that “the evidence shows that the scope of the crackdown is becoming more violent and more extensive every day,” adding that hundreds have been wounded and more than 2000 arrested.
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