Iran authorities signal intensified crackdown on unrest

Iranian authorities have indicated they may intensify their crackdown on the biggest anti-government demonstrations in recent years, with the Revolutionary Guard blaming terrorists for the unrest and vowing to protect the governing system.

A day after US President Donald Trump issued a new warning that the US could intervene, there were new reports of violence across the country, although an internet outage made it difficult to assess the full extent of the unrest.

The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, who has emerged as a prominent voice in the fragmented opposition, has made his strongest call yet for the protests to escalate into an uprising to overthrow the religious rulers.

State media said a municipal building in Karaj, west of Tehran, was set on fire and blamed it on “rebels”.

State television broadcast footage of the funeral ceremonies of members of the security forces who it said were killed during protests in the cities of Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.

Images published on social media show large crowds gathering in Tehran and fires being lit on the streets at night.

In the video showing the night protest in Tehran’s Saadatabad district, a man can be heard saying that the crowd has taken over the area.

“The crowd is coming. ‘Death to the dictator’, ‘Death to Khamenei’,” he said, referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Reuters confirmed the location of the videos.

Protests have spread across Iran since December 28 in response to rising inflation and quickly turned political, with protesters demanding an end to religious rule.

Authorities accuse the United States and Israel of inciting the unrest.

Iranian human rights group HRANA said at least 50 protesters and 15 security personnel were killed and 2,300 people were arrested.

An eyewitness, reached by phone in western Iran, said that the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were deployed and opened fire in the area where the witness was speaking, and he declined to be identified for security reasons.

Tasnim news agency reported that 100 “armed rebels” were arrested in the town of Baharestan near Tehran.

The intelligence wing of the Revolutionary Guard said it had arrested a foreigner suspected of spying for Israel, the news agency reported on Saturday.

In a statement broadcast by state television, the Revolutionary Guard, an elite force that has suppressed previous episodes of unrest, accused “terrorists” of targeting military and police bases over the past two nights.

The statement stated that many citizens and security personnel were killed and public and private properties were set on fire.

He added that preserving the gains of the Islamic revolution and maintaining security is a “red line”.

The regular army also issued a statement saying it would “safeguard and protect national interests, the country’s strategic infrastructure and public property.”

Iran’s rulers have weathered repeated periods of unrest, including student protests in 1999, disputed elections in 2009, economic hardship in 2019 and the death in custody of a woman accused of violating the dress code in 2022.

A doctor in northwestern Iran said many injured protesters had been taken to hospitals since Friday.

Some were badly beaten, suffering head injuries, broken legs and arms, as well as deep cuts.

At least 20 people were shot with live bullets in a hospital, five of whom later died.

The Revolutionary Guard’s public affairs office said three members of the Basij security force were killed and five others were wounded in clashes with groups it described as “armed rebels” in Gachsaran in the southwest.

Another security guard was stabbed to death in Hamadan, western Iran.

The late Brigadier General Nourali Shoushtari, the son of a senior officer, was killed in the Ahmedabad district of Mashhad in the north-east.

Two more security personnel were killed in Shushtar in Khuzestan province in the last two nights.

Authorities have described the economy-related protests as legitimate while condemning what they call rioters who have been violent for the past two weeks.