4 months ago
1
Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy reached the two-week people connected Sunday (January 11, 2026), arsenic the decease toll successful unit surrounding the demonstrations reached astatine slightest 116 radical killed, activists said.
With the internet down successful Iran and telephone lines chopped off, gauging the demonstrations from overseas has grown much difficult. But the decease toll successful the protests has grown to astatine slightest 116 and implicit 2,600 others detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The bureau has been close successful aggregate rounds of erstwhile unrest successful Iran.
Iranian authorities TV is reporting connected information unit casualties portion portraying power implicit the nation, without discussing dormant demonstrators, whom it progressively refers to arsenic “terrorists".
However, it besides acknowledged protests went connected into Sunday morning, with demonstrations successful Tehran and successful the beatified metropolis of Mashhad to the northeast.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signalled a coming clampdown, contempt U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats connected Saturday, with the Iran's lawyer general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, informing that anyone taking portion successful protests volition beryllium considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
The connection carried by Iranian authorities tv said adjacent those who “helped rioters” would look the charge.
“Prosecutors indispensable cautiously and without delay, by issuing indictments, hole the grounds for the proceedings and decisive confrontation with those who, by betraying the federation and creating insecurity, question overseas domination implicit the country,” the connection read. “Proceedings indispensable beryllium conducted without leniency, compassion oregon indulgence.”
U.S. President Donald Trump offered enactment for the protesters, saying connected societal media that “Iran is looking astatine FREEDOM, possibly similar ne'er before. The USA stands acceptable to help!!!”
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, reporting citing anonymous U.S. officials, said connected Saturday nighttime that Mr. Trump had been fixed subject options for a onslaught connected Iran, but hadn't made a last decision.
The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When helium says he'll bash something, helium means it.”
Saturday marked the commencement of the enactment week successful Iran, but galore schools and universities reportedly held online classes, Iranian authorities TV reported. Internal Iranian authorities websites are believed to beryllium functioning.
State TV repeatedly played a driving, martial orchestral statement from the “Epic of Khorramshahr” by Iranian composer Majid Entezami, portion showing pro-government demonstrations.
The song, aired repeatedly during the 12-day warfare launched by Israel, honours Iran's 1982 liberation of the metropolis of Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq war. It has been utilized successful videos of protesting women cutting distant their hairsbreadth to protestation the 2022 decease of Mahsa Amini arsenic well.
It besides repeatedly aired video of purported protesters shooting astatine information forces with firearms.
In 1 online video verified by The Associated Press, protesters demonstrated Friday successful bluish Tehran's Saadat Abad area, with what appeared to beryllium thousands connected the street.
“Death to Khamenei!” a antheral chanted.
The semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to beryllium adjacent to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and 1 of the fewer media outlets capable to people to the extracurricular world, released surveillance camera footage of what it said came from demonstrations successful Isfahan.
In it, a protester appeared to occurrence a agelong gun, portion others acceptable fires and threw gasoline bombs astatine what appeared to beryllium a authorities compound.
The Young Journalists' Club, associated with authorities TV, reported that protesters killed 3 members of the Guard's all-volunteer Basij unit successful the metropolis of Gachsaran.
It besides reported a information authoritative was stabbed to decease successful Hamadan province, a constabulary serviceman killed successful the larboard metropolis of Bandar Abbas and different successful Gilan, arsenic good arsenic 1 idiosyncratic slain successful Mashhad.
The semiofficial Tasnim quality agency, besides adjacent to the Guard, claimed authorities detained astir 200 radical belonging to what it described arsenic “operational violent teams.” It alleged those arrested had weapons including firearms, grenades and gasoline bombs.
State tv besides aired footage of a ceremonial work attended by hundreds successful Qom, a Shiite seminary metropolis conscionable southbound of Tehran.
Iran's theocracy chopped disconnected the federation from the net and planetary telephone calls connected Thursday, though it allowed immoderate state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar's state-funded Al Jazeera quality web reported unrecorded from Iran, but they appeared to beryllium the lone large overseas outlet capable to work.
Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked successful his latest connection for demonstrators to instrumentality to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to transportation Iran's aged lion-and-sun emblem and different nationalist symbols utilized during the clip of the shah to “claim nationalist spaces arsenic your own.” Pahlavi's enactment of and from Israel has drawn disapproval successful the past — peculiarly aft the 12-day war. Demonstrators person shouted successful enactment of the shah successful immoderate protests, but it isn't wide whether that's enactment for Pahlavi himself oregon a tendency to instrumentality to a clip earlier the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Online video purported to amusement protests ongoing Saturday nighttime arsenic well.
The demonstrations began Dec 28 implicit the illness of the Iranian rial currency, which trades astatine implicit 1.4 cardinal to $1, arsenic the country's system is squeezed by planetary sanctions successful portion levied implicit its atomic programme. The protests intensified and grew into calls straight challenging Iran's theocracy.
Airlines person cancelled immoderate flights into Iran implicit the demonstrations. Austrian Airlines said connected Saturday it had decided to suspend its flights to Iran “as a precautionary measure” done Monday. Turkish Airlines earlier announced the cancellation of 17 flights to 3 cities successful Iran.
Meanwhile, interest is increasing that the net shutdown volition let Iran's information forces to spell connected a bloody crackdown, arsenic they person successful different rounds of demonstrations. Ali Rahmani, the lad of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi who is imprisoned successful Iran, noted that information forces killed hundreds successful a 2019 protestation “so we tin lone fearfulness the worst.”
“They are fighting, and losing their lives, against a dictatorial regime,” Mr. Rahmani said.
