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Protesters gather as vehicles are burned, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screenshot obtained from a social media video posted on January 9, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS:
Human rights groups expressed alarm Saturday that Iranian authorities were escalating a deadly crackdown under cover of an internet blackout, after another night of mass protests in the biggest demonstrations the Islamic republic has faced in years.
The two weeks of demonstrations have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has expressed defiance and blamed the United States.
After the movement’s largest protests on Thursday, new demonstrations took place on Friday night, according to images verified by AFP and other videos posted on social networks.
This was despite an internet shutdown imposed by authorities, with monitor Netblocks saying on Saturday afternoon that “Iran has been offline for 48 hours.”
Amnesty International said it was analyzing “concerning reports that security forces have escalated their unlawful use of lethal force against protesters” since Thursday in an escalation “that has led to further deaths and injuries.”
The Norway-based Iranian Human Rights group has said at least 51 people have been killed so far in the crackdown, warning that the true toll could be higher.
He posted images he said were of bodies of people shot dead during protests on the floor of the Alghadir hospital in eastern Tehran.
“These images provide further evidence of the excessive and lethal use of force against protesters,” IHR said.
Take over city centers
In Tehran’s Saadatabad district, people banged pots and chanted anti-government slogans, including “death to Khamenei”, while cars honked in support, video verified by AFP shows.
Other images broadcast on social media and by Persian-language television channels outside Iran showed similarly large protests elsewhere in the capital, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Qom.
In the western city of Hamedan, a man was shown waving a shah-era Iranian flag with the lion and sun amid fires and dancing people.
The same flag briefly replaced the current Iranian flag over the country’s embassy in London, when protesters managed to reach the building’s balcony, witnesses told AFP.
Reza Pahlavi, the U.S.-based son of Iran’s deposed shah, praised Friday’s “magnificent” turnout and urged Iranians to organize more targeted protests on Saturday and Sunday.
“Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to take and control city centers,” Pahlavi said in a video message on social media.
big problem
Pahlavi, whose father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by the 1979 revolution and died in 1980, added that he was also “preparing to return to my homeland” at a time he believed was “very close.”
Authorities say several members of the security forces have been killed and Khamenei, in a defiant speech on Friday, lashed out at “vandals” and accused the United States of fueling the protests.
On Thursday and Friday, an AFP journalist in Tehran saw streets deserted and plunged into darkness before any demonstrations.
On Valiasr Avenue, one of Tehran’s main streets, businesses closed unusually early.
“The area is not safe,” said a cafe manager as he prepared to close around 4:00 p.m.
An AFP journalist saw broken shop windows and the deployment of security forces.
State television on Saturday broadcast footage of the funerals of several members of the security forces killed in the protests, including a large gathering in the southern city of Shiraz.
He also released images of burning buildings, including a mosque.
The Iranian military said in a statement that it will “vigorously protect and safeguard national interests” against an “enemy that seeks to disrupt order and peace.”
The head of the National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said in comments released Friday night that “we are in the middle of a war” and that “these incidents are directed from outside.”
Norway-based rights group Hengaw said it had confirmed that five Kurdish men had been shot dead by security forces in the western city of Kermanshah on Thursday and that another man, a former bodybuilding champion, had been killed in the northern city of Rasht on Friday.
World leaders have urged Iranian authorities to show restraint, and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said Europe backed the mass protests by Iranians and condemned the “violent repression” against demonstrators.
On Saturday, at the start of the work week in Iran, a man in Tehran said he couldn’t check his work email.
“This is the price to pay before the victory of the people,” he stated.
US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States is “ready to help” as protesters in Iran face intensifying repression by authorities in the Islamic republic.
“Iran looks toward FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. America is ready to help!!!” Trump said in a social post on Truth Social, without elaborating.
His comments come a day after he said Iran was in “big trouble” and warned again that it could order military strikes.
