Iran protesters defy crackdown as videos show violent clashes
Protesters in Iran took to the streets on Saturday night, defying a government crackdown, despite reports suggesting hundreds of people had been killed or injured by security forces over the past three days.
Videos and eyewitness accounts verified by the BBC showed that the government had stepped up its response.
Iran’s attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God” and that the crime was punishable by death.
US President Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran “very hard” if it “starts killing people.” Iran’s Parliament Speaker warned that Israel and all US military and transport bases in the region would be legitimate targets if the US attacked Iran.
The protests were sparked by rising inflation and spread to more than 100 cities and towns in every province of Iran. Now protesters are calling for an end to the religious rule of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei called the demonstrators a group of vandals trying to “please” Trump.
Trump said Saturday that Iran is “looking at FREEDOM” and that the United States is “ready to help.”
As the protests intensify, the number of dead and injured also increases. BBC sources and US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) reported that more than 100 people, including security personnel, were killed.
Staff at three hospitals told the BBC they were overwhelmed by the number of injured and dead; BBC Persian confirmed 70 bodies were brought to a hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday night, and a medical worker reported that around 38 people had died in a hospital in Tehran.
Iran’s police chief said on state television that clashes with “rebels” escalated with arrests on Saturday night. He blamed “a significant portion of the deaths” on “trained and directed individuals” and not on security forces, but did not provide detailed information.
More than 2,500 people have been arrested since the protests began on December 28, according to a human rights group.
The BBC and many other international news organizations are unable to report from inside Iran. The Iranian government has shut down the internet since Thursday, It makes information difficult to obtain and verify.
However, some video footage has emerged and the BBC spoke to people at the scene.
Video confirmed Saturday night showed protesters taking over the streets of Tehran’s Gisha district. Multiple videos, recently verified by BBC Verify, show clashes between protesters and security forces in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city.
Masked protesters can be seen hiding behind wheelie bins and bonfires, while a line of security forces can be seen in the distance. The vehicle, which looked like a bus, was engulfed in flames.
Multiple gunshots and what sounds like pots and pans being banged can be heard.
The footage shows a figure standing on a nearby pedestrian bridge and firing multiple shots in various directions while several people hide behind a fence on the side of Vakil Abad Boulevard.
Another verified video shows a large group of protesters and the sounds of banging pots in Punak Square in western Tehran.
In a clip filmed in the Heravi district in north-east Tehran and verified by BBC Persian and BBC Verify, a crowd of protesters can be seen marching on the road and calling for the end of the religious institution.
Internet access in Iran is largely limited to the local intranet and connections to the outside world are limited. But during the current protests, authorities not only shut down access to the worldwide internet for the first time, but also severely restricted the local intranet.
An expert speaking to BBC Persian said the closure was more severe than that imposed during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising in 2022. Internet researcher Alireza Manafi said all forms of internet access in Iran are now “almost completely closed”.
He added that the only possible way to connect to the outside world is through Starlink satellite internet, but warned users to be careful as such connections could potentially be monitored by the government.
On Saturday, Trump wrote on social media: “IRAN is looking at FREEDOM like perhaps never before. USA is ready to help!!!”
He did not give details, but US media reported that Trump was informed about military attack options in the country. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the briefings took place, with the WSJ describing them as “preliminary discussions.” An unnamed official told the WSJ there was “no imminent threat” to Iran.
Last year, the United States launched an air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
As dawn broke in Iran on Sunday, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah (king), who lives in the United States and whose return protesters want, posted a video to X.
The caption read: “Know that you are not alone. Your fellow citizens around the world are proudly shouting out your voice… In particular, President Trump, as the leader of the free world, has carefully observed your indescribable courage and announced his readiness to help you.”
He added: “I know I’ll be there for you soon.”
He claimed that the Islamic Republic faced a “serious shortage of mercenaries” and that “many armed and security forces have abandoned their workplaces or failed to comply with orders to repress the population.” The BBC was unable to verify these claims.
Pahlavi encouraged people to continue protesting on Sunday evening, but to stay in groups or with crowds and “don’t put your lives in danger.”
Amnesty International said it had analyzed “distressing reports that security forces have intensified their unlawful use of lethal force against protesters” since Thursday.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said those who speak out against Khamenei’s government should not face “threats of violence or retaliation”.
According to HRANA, at least 78 protesters and 38 security personnel were killed in the last two weeks.
BBC Persian confirmed the identities of 26 people, including six children.
A hospital worker in Tehran said he experienced “very scary scenes” and said there were so many injured that staff did not have time to perform CPR and there was not enough space in the morgues to store the bodies.
They stated that many people “died as soon as they reached emergency services, young people were shot directly into their heads and hearts, and many did not even reach the hospital.”
The protests have been the most widespread since the uprising sparked by the 2022 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 and more than 20,000 detained by security forces in several months.
Additional reporting by Soroush Pakzad and Roja Assadi
