Iran prepares for violent clashes as protests rage

Iran's supreme leader vowed yesterday that authorities would "not back down" in the face of a rapidly growing protest movement, setting the stage for an intensified violent crackdown on the second day of a nationwide internet shutdown.

- William Christou Deepa Parent

An image circulating online shows a lone protester outside a burning building in Tehran amid growing unrest

Protests have raged in cities and towns across Iran in recent days, threatening the authority of the regime, which has been significantly weakened since the last large protest movement in 2022. Another round of protests was called for last night.

In his first speech since demonstrations started on 28 December, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described protesters as "vandals" and "saboteurs", and accused them of working on behalf of foreign agendas.

Protesters are "ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy ... because he said he would come to their aid", Khamenei said - referring to Donald Trump, who has threatened US intervention in Iran if protesters are killed.

The protests started after a sudden fall in the value of Iran's currency, but demands for political reform and an end to the regime quickly emerged.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump suggested the supreme leader was preparing to flee Iran. "He's looking to go somewhere. It's getting very bad," he said.

Thursday's protests were the biggest since the 2022-2023 rallies sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Authorities look more vulnerable this time because of the economic situation and the aftermath of the war with Israel and the US.

The head of Iran's judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, said consequences for demonstrators would be "decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency".

An internet blackout introduced on Thursday has sharply reduced the amount of information flowing out of the country. The Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march after Friday prayers in Zahedan, where the Baluch minority predominates, had been met with gunfire that wounded several people.