Armed protesters clash with security forces in Iran as deadly unrest continues
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Armed protesters clashed with security forces in the Tehranpars neighborhood of Iran’s capital on Friday, as anti-regime demonstrations intensified across the country.
While Iranian State Security Forces were clashing with so-called “rebel youths”, repeated gunshots could be heard for minutes in the mobile phone video sent to Iranian television and shared with Fox News Digital.
In the video, people on the street are running and chanting “Death to Khamenei!” they shouted. “Death to the dictator!” “Shame on you!” and “We’re all in this together!”
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Armed protesters clashed with police on Friday as nationwide anti-regime demonstrations intensified in Iran’s capital. (Iran TV)
According to the News Agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, the protests entered their 14th day on Saturday; On Friday, 65 people, including children, died and 2,311 people were arrested.
Authorities this week imposed a sweeping internet blackout that has largely cut off the country’s connection to the outside world and raised threats of harsh punishment as anti-regime protests spread.
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A masked demonstrator holds a photo of Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on Friday. (UGC via AP)
Protests spread to 190 cities in Iran on Saturday, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Opposition politician Maryam Rajavi said in a statement: “The rebellious youth did not allow the flames of the uprising to be extinguished by defending the demonstrators.” he said. “They showed their determination to defeat the regime.”
Iranian state television shows a man holding a device to document burning vehicles during the night of mass protests in the Iranian city of Zanjan. (Iranian state television via AP)
At a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, President Donald Trump said Iran faces increasing pressure as unrest spreads across the country.
“Iran is in big trouble,” Trump said. “It seems to me that people are taking over some cities that no one really thought was possible until a few weeks ago. We’re monitoring the situation very carefully.”
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Trump warned that the United States would respond strongly if the regime resorted to mass violence.
“We’re going to hit them very hard where it hurts. That doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts,” he said.
As of Saturday, flights of Lufthansa, flydubai, Turkish Airlines, AJet, Pegasus, Qatar Airways and Austrian Airlines to Iran were suspended.
Fox News’ Efrat Lachter and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
