Iran suffered a complete internet blackout on Thursday evening as protests over dire economic conditions spread across the country, further increasing pressure on the country's leadership.
While it was not clear what caused the internet outage, which was first reported by internet freedom monitor NetBloks, Iranian authorities have previously shut down the internet in response to protests.
NetBlocks reported outages in the western city of Kermanshah earlier in the day as authorities stepped up their crackdown on protesters. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO said on Thursday that Iranian security forces have killed at least 45 protesters, including eight children, since the protests began in late December.
Shopkeepers heeded calls from seven Kurdish political groups for a general strike on Thursday, closing shops in Kurdish areas and dozens of other cities across Iran. The Hengav human rights group released footage of closed shops in the western provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Lorestan. The group accused authorities of firing on protesters in Kermanshah and the nearby northern city of Kamjarran, injuring several people.
Demonstrations swept across all 31 provinces on Thursday, and the protest movement showed no signs of abating.
In the southern province of Fars, protesters tore down a statue of Qassem Soleimani, a former top commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, a figure considered a hero of almost mythical proportions by government supporters. Verified footage showed protesters celebrating as the monument was torn down.
Protests continued into the night on Thursday. According to social media footage reviewed by Agence France-Presse, a large crowd gathered on the wide Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard in northwest Tehran, with car horns blaring in support. Other footage showed demonstrations in the western city of Abadan. According to the IHR, a woman who took part in a protest in that city on Wednesday evening was hit in the eye by a bullet.
The IHR said Wednesday was the bloodiest day of the now 12-day movement, with 13 protesters confirmed dead. "Evidence shows that the repression is becoming more violent and widespread every day," said IHR director Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, adding that hundreds of people were injured and more than 2.000 arrested.
On Wednesday, a police officer was killed west of Tehran while trying to "control riots," the Fars news agency reported.
Iranian media and official statements say at least 21 people have been killed since the protests began, including members of the security forces, according to an AFP tally.
This protest movement is the largest in the last three years and, although it has not yet reached the scale of the "Women, Life, Freedom" demonstrations of 2022, it has seriously alarmed Iran's political and security leadership.
Human rights groups have accused authorities of resorting to tactics such as raiding hospitals to arrest wounded protesters. "Iranian security forces have injured and killed both protesters and bystanders," Amnesty International said, accusing the authorities of using "unlawful force."
Iranian President Masoud Pesekian called for restraint in dealing with the demonstrations on Thursday. "Any violent or coercive behavior should be avoided," Pesekian said in a statement posted on his official website, calling for "extreme restraint" but also for "dialogue, engagement and listening to the people's demands."
The reason for the protests - the sharp decline in the value of the national currency and a general economic slump - made it difficult for the government to respond to the protesters' demands. The currency continued to weaken, while the government announced the abolition of a subsidized exchange rate for importers, which had already led to a sharp rise in food prices.
Daily life has become increasingly unaffordable for Iranian citizens. Average food prices have risen by more than 70 percent compared to last year, while medicine prices have increased by about 50 percent over the same period.
The government has said that resolving the economic crisis is largely beyond its reach and that, while it will fight corruption and price speculation, it has few tools. It has blamed external factors for the economic problems, primarily harsh Western sanctions imposed on Iran, largely over its nuclear program.
The protests so far seem decentralized and without a clear central figure, unlike the 2022 protests, when demonstrators gathered around the figure of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly.
Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, is trying to fill the leadership vacuum in the movement. He called on Iranians to shout from their windows in support on Thursday and Friday at 20 p.m. local time.
"Based on your response, I will issue further calls for action," Pahlavi said in a video widely shared on social media.
It is unclear how much support Pahlavi actually has, although footage of the protests over the past 12 days has shown demonstrators chanting in his favor. A social media channel close to Iranian security forces posted a video purportedly showing intelligence officers going to people’s homes and warning them not to participate in the protests Pahlavi is calling for, while other sources claimed that drones would be used to identify participants.
Although the authorities have used violence against protesters, the repression has not yet reached the intensity of 2022. Analysts believe that the country now feels less safe than three years ago, further shaken by the war with Israel in June.
The government is also facing pressure from abroad. US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene if Iran kills protesters. Trump on Thursday repeated his threat to take tough measures against Iran if the authorities "start killing people", warning that Washington will "hit very hard".
The US State Department has also encouraged protesters online, sharing videos of people putting Trump stickers on traffic signs. "When prices are set so high that consumers can't buy and farmers can't sell, everyone loses," the State Department said in a post on the X network.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on Thursday evening that Iran's economy was "on its knees", speaking before the Economic Club of Minnesota: "This is an extremely risky moment. He (Trump) doesn't want any more protesters to get hurt. This is a tense moment."
German Foreign Minister Johan Vadeful, meanwhile, condemned the "excessive use of force" by Iranian authorities against protesters.
Iran's Foreign Ministry and military reacted sharply to Trump's comments, and the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army threatened preemptive strikes on countries that threaten Iran on Wednesday.
Authorities are increasingly portraying protesters as violent, claiming that the right to protest is legitimate, but that the riots have been taken over by hooligans and saboteurs supported by abroad.
Pro-government media reported that a police colonel was stabbed outside Tehran, while a police station in Chenaran, in the northeast of the country, was attacked on Wednesday evening, killing five people.
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