Iranian authorities have arrested key members of the protest movement that has been shaking the country for two weeks, the national police chief announced, as Washington and Tehran threaten each other over the possibility of American intervention in the Islamic Republic, the British newspaper The Guardian reports.
"Last night, significant arrests were made of the main actors in the riots, who, God willing, will be punished after going through legal procedures," police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan told state television today, without specifying how many people were arrested.
Iran's state prosecutor previously said that those caught protesting, or even aiding demonstrators, could be charged as "enemies of God" - a crime punishable by death.
The protest movement in Iran, now in its second week, represents the most serious unrest the country has faced in years. Although initially sparked by the sharp fall in the value of the national currency, the protests have quickly escalated into demands for political reform and calls for the overthrow of the government.
The Iranian regime has managed to overcome mass protest movements before, but analysts say the current unrest is taking place at a time when the government is weakened by an economic crisis and in the midst of the consequences of last summer's war with Israel, according to the Guardian.
Authorities cut off internet access in the country on Thursday, imposing a nearly impenetrable, nationwide blackout. Rights groups said Iranian authorities used the internet shutdown as a cover to expand their crackdown on protesters, using deadly force and live ammunition to disperse them.
At least 116 people have been killed in violence related to the demonstrations, while 2.600 people have been arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, an organization based in the United States (US).
"Analysis of the cause of death shows that most of the victims were killed by live ammunition or shotgun pellets, predominantly at close range," the organization said.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene in Iran if authorities kill protesters, a threat he appeared to repeat on Saturday evening.
"Iran is looking towards FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The US is ready to help!!!", stated the US president on the Truth Social platform.
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that Trump has been presented with multiple military options for attacking Iran, but has not yet made a decision on how to proceed.
US senators joined Trump's messages, with Senator Lindsey Graham saying on social media that "the long nightmare of the Iranians is soon coming to an end."
Israeli officials have announced that they are on high alert for possible American intervention in Iran, while Israeli media reported that officials are refraining from public comments so as not to allow Iranian authorities to portray the protest movement as having foreign support.
The US threats quickly provoked a sharp reaction from Iranian officials, with the speaker of parliament warning that the US and Israel would be "legitimate targets" if the US attacked Iran.
"In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets," Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said.
Earlier, when the US launched attacks on Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in June, Iran responded by attacking a US military base in Qatar. The attack was considered largely symbolic, as it was announced in advance and did not result in the deaths of American soldiers.
Despite the crackdown, protests continued overnight Saturday and more were expected today. Footage appeared to show thousands of demonstrators in northern Tehran banging pots and chanting slogans. In Mashhad, the hometown of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, footage showed protesters clashing with police, setting up barricades and setting fires.
Human rights organizations said that due to the almost complete breakdown of communications in the country, proper and comprehensive documentation of the events is almost impossible, but at the same time, there are increasing reports of a sharp increase in the number of deaths among protesters. The Center for Human Rights in Iran said today that it had received credible reports from witnesses that hundreds of protesters have been killed in recent days.
Messages and videos from Iran occasionally reach the public, mainly thanks to activists using the Starlink satellite internet.
One protester from the central Iranian city of Sari, according to messages forwarded by the US-based Abdorahman Borumand Foundation, said that security forces had imposed a full military regime in the city.
"A large number of security forces armed with military-grade weapons have set up checkpoints. Every vehicle is stopped, even if there are only two people in it. They are telling everyone that anyone found outside will be shot," said a protester.
An Iranian activist living abroad told the Guardian that her cousin managed to call her via Starlink on Saturday night in a panic. She was fleeing a protest in the Andarzgu neighborhood of Tehran after authorities began using “military weapons” against unarmed protesters, describing security forces shooting men, women and children at close range.
Footage shared with the Guardian shows large crowds of people moving through the streets, surrounded by what appears to be tear gas. Another footage shows a female protester running away as gunshots are heard in the background, repeatedly saying the word "shame".
A video verified by the human rights group Hengaw shows several bodies of what the group says were protesters killed by authorities, located in a warehouse in the Karizakh area of Tehran. The group said the warehouse is located near a morgue and is being used as a makeshift facility because the morgue is overcrowded. Iranian state media has blamed protesters for the deaths.
Iranian President Masoud Peshmerga, who had previously offered dialogue with the protesters, appears to have taken a harder line today.
"People have concerns, we need to sit down with them and, if that's our duty, address them. But the higher duty is not to allow a group of miscreants to come and destroy an entire society," Pezeshkiyan said.
As it faces protests at home, the Iranian government is increasingly concerned about a possible attack by the US or Israel.
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