Government shuts down internet and phone services as protests shake Iran

Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on the weekend, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has left at least 538 people dead. Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press explains the latest uprising

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NATIONWIDE protests in Iran sparked by the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy are putting new pressure on its theocracy as it has shut down the internet and telephone networks.

Tehran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel last June that saw the United States bomb nuclear sites in Iran.

Economic pressure, which has intensified since September when the United Nations reimposed sanctions on the country over its atomic program, has sent Iran's rial currency into a freefall, now trading at over 1.4 million to $1.

Meanwhile, Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” - a coalition of countries and militant groups backed by Tehran - has been decimated since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

A threat by US President Donald Trump warning Iran that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters” the US “will come to their rescue,’ has taken on new meaning after American troops captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

“We're watching it very closely,” Trump has warned. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

Here's what to know about the protests and the challenges facing Iran’s government:

More than 570 protests have taken place across all of Iran's 31 provinces, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported yesterday.

‘The death toll had reached at least 538, it said, with more than 10,600 arrests. The group relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting and has been accurate in past unrest.

Understanding the scale of the protests has been difficult.

Iranian state media has provided little information about the demonstrations. Online videos offer only brief, shaky glimpses of people in the streets or the sound of gunfire.