Iran leader Khamenei says anti-government protesters are vandals trying to please Trump

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called anti-government protesters “troublemakers” and “a bunch of vandals trying to please the president of the United States.”

He accused mobs of destroying buildings because Donald Trump said he “supports you.” Trump warned Iran that the US would hit the country “very hard” if it kills protesters.

The protests broke out on the 13th day regarding the economy and turned into the biggest protests in recent years. This led to calls for the end of the Islamic Republic and for some to reinstate the monarchy.

At least 48 protesters and 14 security personnel were killed, according to human rights groups. There is an internet outage.

Khamenei continued his defiance in a televised speech on Friday.

The 86-year-old said, “Everyone should know that the Islamic Republic came to power with the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people and will not step back against those who deny this.” he said.

The US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) said more than 2,277 people have been arrested, in addition to the 48 protesters killed, since the protests began on December 28.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said at least 51 protesters, including nine children, were killed.

BBC Persian confirmed the identities of 22 of these people by speaking to their families. The BBC and most other international news organizations are prohibited from reporting inside Iran.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on Friday that the continuation of the current situation in the country will not be tolerated.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution, called on Trump on Friday to “be ready to intervene to help the Iranian people.”

Pahlavi, who lives close to Washington DC, had called on protesters to take to the streets on Thursday and Friday.

Protests took place across the country, with BBC Verify verifying videos from 67 locations.

On Friday, protesters gathered in the southeastern city of Zahedan after weekly prayers; Videos verified by BBC Persian and BBC Verify were shown. In one of the videos, people can be heard chanting “death to the dictator”, referring to Khamenei.

In another, protesters gather near a local mosque when several loud explosions are heard.

Another video, confirmed on Thursday, shows a fire breaking out at the office of the Young Journalists Club, a subsidiary of state broadcaster Irib, in the city of Isfahan. It is not yet known what caused the fire and whether there were any injuries.

Photos obtained by the BBC on Thursday night also showed cars overturned and set on fire at Tehran’s Kaaj junction.

Internet monitoring groups Cloudfare and Netblocks said the country had been under a near-total internet blackout since Thursday evening, with a small amount of traffic returning on Friday. This means less information is coming out of Iran.

IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement that “the extent of the government’s use of force against protesters has increased and the risk of intensification of violence and widespread killings of protesters following the internet shutdown is very serious.”

Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi warned of a possible “massacre” during the internet shutdown.

A person who was able to text the BBC said he was in Shiraz, in southern Iran. He reported that residents were flocking to supermarkets trying to stock up on food and other essential items, anticipating worse days to come.

The shutdown of the internet caused ATMs not to work, and it was not possible to shop in stores where bank cards could not be used due to the lack of internet.

Mahsa Alimardani, who works for the human rights organization Witness, told the BBC in London that she had not been able to contact her family since Thursday evening.

“Not being able to access information, not knowing whether your loved ones are participating or not is very worrying [in the protests] or if they are good,” he said.

The protests began about two weeks ago when shopkeepers in Tehran became angry over the depreciation of their currency, then spread to students and street demonstrations.

The last major protests took place in 2022, when demonstrations broke out following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

According to human rights groups, more than 550 people have been killed by security forces and more than 20,000 detained in several months.

Additional reporting by Reha Kansara and Kasra Naji