Iranian President Masoud Peshmerga warned today that any attack on the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would constitute a declaration of war, the British newspaper The Guardian reports.
In what appears to be a response to speculation that United States (US) President Donald Trump is considering an assassination attempt on Khamenei or his removal, Pezeshkian said in a post on the X network: "An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation."
The Iranian president also blamed the US for the protests that have rocked Iran over the past two weeks and led to thousands of deaths among demonstrators.
"If there are difficulties and limitations in the lives of the dear people of Iran, one of the main causes is the long-standing hostility and inhumane sanctions imposed by the US government and its allies," Pezeshkian said.
In an interview with Politico yesterday, Trump called for an end to Khamenei's nearly 40-year rule, calling him "a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people."
The latest wave of unrest in Iran began on December 28, when widespread anger over soaring inflation, a collapsing currency and economic hardship spilled out of Tehran and spread to cities across the country, with protests over the cost of living quickly turning into widespread anti-government demonstrations demanding regime change.
As the movement grew, Iranian authorities responded on January 8 with a near-total shutdown of internet and telephone services, cutting off most links to the world in an attempt to stifle communication, cover up the extent of the unrest, and thwart independent reporting, leaving many Iranians isolated from the outside world.
Last Tuesday, Trump called on Iranians to continue protests and "take over their institutions," telling them that "help is coming," as reports piled up that an attack on Iran was imminent.
On Wednesday, the US came close to launching military strikes on Iran, but ultimately backed down after Trump decided to pause amid growing regional and diplomatic pressure, according to the Guardian.
The American news website Axios reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Trump that Israel was not prepared for Iranian retaliation and questioned the effectiveness of the US strike. According to Axios, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also called for restraint, citing risks to regional stability.
"It was right on the edge," one US official told Axios, adding that the order for the strike never came.
In a social media post on Friday, Trump thanked Tehran's leaders, claiming they had halted the planned executions of 800 people, including the execution of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, the first Iranian protester sentenced to death since the unrest began.
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Soltani, a clothing store employee, was arrested in Karaj, a city northwest of Tehran, after taking part in protests and was due to be executed on Wednesday, according to human rights groups. Since his arrest, his family has received little information about his condition, apart from a brief, pre-arranged visit before his expected execution.
Over the weekend, Soltani's family was able to visit him and confirm that he was alive.
"I am relieved to know that my cousin Erfan is alive. However, I am concerned because I received news that he was tortured in detention and has not yet received medical attention. I appeal to the international community to please draw attention to the conditions of his detention. I also appeal to European politicians to please take up his case and demand medical attention for Erfan. I am also deeply concerned for the thousands of other protesters who are in detention," said Soltani's cousin Somaje, who lives in Germany.
At least 5.000 people have been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 members of the security forces, an Iranian official in the region said on Tuesday, citing verified figures and accusing "terrorists and armed rioters" of killing "innocent Iranians."
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During a speech on Thursday, Khamenei acknowledged for the first time that thousands of people had been killed, "some in an inhumane, cruel way." He blamed the US for the death toll, sharply attacking Trump, whom he called a "criminal" for supporting the demonstrations, and calling for strict punishment of protesters.
On Sunday, observers/watchdog organizations that monitor the state of the internet and communications announced that internet access had been partially restored in Iran.
"Traffic data indicates a significant return of some online services, including Google, suggesting that heavily filtered access has been enabled, confirming user reports of partial restoration," Netbloks said in a social media post.
Netbloks monitors internet traffic flow and network availability in real time, especially in crisis situations, protests, and during government internet blockades.
An Iranian official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters that some of the heaviest fighting and the highest death toll had been in Iran's Kurdish regions in the northwest of the country, where Kurdish separatists are active, and the outbreaks of violence were among the most violent in recent waves of unrest.
The Human Rights Activists news agency reported that 24.348 demonstrators were arrested in the crackdown on protests.
There have been no reports of protests in Iran for days, where the streets have returned to an uneasy calm, writes The Guardian.
Instead, some Iranians chanted anti-Khamenei slogans from the windows of their homes on Saturday night, with the shouts echoing through neighborhoods in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan, witnesses said.
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