Activists caution that authorities might increase the crackdown on demonstrations by using the internet shutdown as a cover.
Prominent Iranian cities experienced widespread protests overnight, with participants criticizing the Islamic regime, as activists on Saturday voiced concerns that authorities were escalating their crackdown on demonstrations amid an internet shutdown.
The two weeks of demonstrations have presented one of the most significant threats to the theocratic leadership that has governed Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, despite Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei showing resistance and attributing the unrest to the United States.
After the movement’s biggest protests so far on Thursday, fresh demonstrations occurred late on Friday, as shown in images confirmed by Agence France-Presse and other videos shared on social media.
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This occurred even amid an internet shutdown enforced by officials, with monitor Netblocks noting early Saturday that “data indicates the country-wide internet outage is still active after 36 hours.”
The power outage has raised concerns among activists that officials are now using force to suppress the demonstrations, making it less likely that evidence will be shared with the global community.
Amnesty International stated it is examining “disturbing reports indicating that security personnel have increased their illegal use of deadly force against demonstrators” since Thursday, marking an escalation “that has resulted in additional fatalities and injuries.”
An Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, cautioned on Friday that security personnel might be getting ready to carry out a “massacre during a broad communications blackout,” and mentioned that she has already obtained reports indicating hundreds of individuals were receiving treatment for eye injuries at one hospital in Tehran.
Human rights organizations have alleged that security personnel intentionally aimed birdshot at demonstrators’ eyes during earlier waves of protests in Iran.
A Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization has stated that at least 51 individuals have died in the ongoing crackdown, although it cautioned that the real number might be greater.
Iranian officials were employing “the most obvious methods of suppression,” noted award-winning directors Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, highlighting the internet shutdown.
“Experience has demonstrated that employing such actions is meant to hide the violence carried out during the crackdown on demonstrations,” they added.
In the Saadatabad neighborhood of Tehran, individuals struck pots and shouted anti-government chants such as “death to Khamenei” while vehicles sounded their horns in agreement, according to a video confirmed by Agence France-Presse.
Additional pictures shared on social media and by Persian-language TV channels based outside Iran also depicted significant demonstrations in other parts of the capital, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad, Tabriz in the northern region, and the religious city of Qom.
In the western city of Hamadan, a man was seen waving an Iranian flag from the shah’s era, which displays the lion and the sun, while fires were burning and people were dancing.
In the Pounak area of northern Iran, individuals were captured dancing around a fire in the center of a road, and in the Vakilabad district of Mashhad, a city that houses one of the most sacred shrines in Shiite Islam, crowds walked along a street shouting “death to Khamenei.” The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed right away.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former monarch who now resides in the United States, praised the “remarkable” attendance on Friday and encouraged Iranians to organize more focused demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday.
“Our objective is no longer solely about taking to the streets. The aim is to get ready to occupy and control central areas of cities,” Pahlavi stated in a video message shared on social media.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s son, who was removed from power by the 1979 revolution and passed away in 1980, stated that he was also “getting ready to return to my country” at a moment he felt was “very soon.”
Officials report that multiple members of the security forces have lost their lives, while Khamenei, in a strong address on Friday, criticized “vandals” and blamed the United States for inciting the demonstrations.
State television aired footage of funerals for multiple security personnel who died during the demonstrations, including a significant gathering in the southern city of Shiraz.
The Iranian military stated in a declaration that it would “strongly defend and ensure the protection of national interests” against an “adversary attempting to disturb stability and harmony.”
The head of the National Security Council, Ali Larijani, stated in remarks aired late on Friday that “we are in the middle of a conflict,” adding that “these events are being orchestrated from abroad.”
On Friday, US President Donald Trump once more declined to exclude the possibility of further military measures against Iran, following Washington’s support and participation in Israel’s 12-day conflict with the Islamic Republic in June.
“Iran is in significant trouble. To me, it seems that the people are seizing control of cities that were not considered feasible just a few weeks back,” Trump stated.
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This piece was first published in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a top news outlet covering China and Asia.
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