Iran threatens protesters with the dying penalty in bid to curb nationwide unrest as Starmer and European leaders condemn lethal crackdown

Iranian authorities have cut off internet access and threatened protesters with the death penalty in a bid to suppress growing unrest that has erupted across the country in recent weeks.

Video footage has shown buildings ablaze and violent clashes as anti-government demonstrations rage in cities across Iran, marking the most serious challenge to the regime in years. 

Rights groups say dozens of protesters have already been killed during nearly two weeks of unrest. 

In a televised address, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down, accusing demonstrators of acting on behalf of émigré opposition groups and the United States. 

European leaders have condemned the fatalities, with Sir Keir Starmer urging Tehran to ‘exercise restraint’ as it cracks down on demonstrations against the regime.

Iranian state television has broadcast images of clashes and fires, while the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several police officers were killed overnight. 

Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said the decision to shut down the internet was taken ‘by the competent security authorities under the prevailing circumstances of the country,’ sharply reducing the flow of information from inside Iran. 

Iran’s public prosecutor also warned that those involved in violence and sabotage could face the death penalty. 

Iranian rights group HRANA said it had documented the deaths of at least 62 people since protests began on December 28, including 14 security personnel and 48 protesters. It said more than 2,300 people had also been detained.

The protests pose the biggest internal challenge in at least three years to Iran’s clerical rulers, who look ​more vulnerable than during past bouts of unrest amid a dire economic situation and after last year’s war with Israel ​and the United States.

While the initial protests focused on the economy, with the rial currency losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation topping 40% in December, they have morphed to include slogans aimed directly at the authorities.

The Internet ⁠blackout has sharply reduced the amount of information flowing out of the country. Phone calls to Iran were not getting through. At least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were cancelled, Dubai Airport’s website showed.

Images published ​by state television overnight showed what it said were burning buses, cars and motorbikes as well as fires at ‍underground railway stations and banks.

Videos verified by Reuters as having been taken in the capital Tehran showed hundreds of people marching. In one of the videos, a woman could be heard shouting, ‘Death ​to Khamenei!’

Other chants included slogans in support of the monarchy.

Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march after Friday prayers in Zahedan, where the Baluch minority predominates, was met with gunfire that wounded several people.

A video posted on social media purported to show demonstrators in the southern city of Shiraz as they chanted, ‘This is the year of blood, Seyed Ali (Khamenei) will be overthrown.’ Reuters could not immediately verify the video.

Authorities have tried a dual approach – describing protests over the economy as legitimate while condemning what they call violent rioters and cracking down with security forces.

Last week, President ‍Masoud Pezeshkian urged authorities to take ‍a ‘kind and responsible approach’, and the government offered modest financial incentives to help counter worsening impoverishment as inflation has soared.

But with unrest spreading and clashes appearing more violent, the Supreme Leader, the ultimate authority in Iran, above the elected president and parliament, used much tougher language on Friday.

‘The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honourable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,’ he said, accusing those involved in unrest of seeking to please U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tehran’s public prosecutor said those committing sabotage, burning public property or engaging in clashes with security forces would face the death penalty.

Iran’s fragmented external opposition factions called for more protests, and demonstrators have chanted slogans including ‘Death to the dictator!’ and praising the monarchy that was overthrown in 1979.

Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late shah, told Iranians in a social ⁠media post: ‘The eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets.’

However, the extent of support inside Iran for the monarchy or for the MKO, the most vocal of émigré opposition groups, is disputed. A spokesperson for the MKO said units with the group had taken part in the protests.

‘The sense of hopelessness in Iranian society is something today that we haven’t seen before. 

‘I mean, that sense of anger has just deepened over the years and we are at record ⁠new levels in terms of how Iranian society is upset,’ said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and warned Tehran last week that the U.S. could come to the protesters’ aid, said on Thursday in Washington he would not meet Pahlavi and was ‘not sure that it would be appropriate’ to support him. 

Despite the increased pressure, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday the chance of foreign military intervention in Iran was ‘very low.’ 

He said the foreign minister of Oman, which has often interceded in negotiations between Iran and the West, would visit on Saturday.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday the United Nations was continuing to follow the situation extremely closely and was very disturbed by the loss of life.

‘People anywhere in the world have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and governments have ‍a responsibility to protect that right and to ensure that that right is respected,’ ⁠Dujarric said.

The Islamic Republic has weathered repeated bouts of major nationwide unrest across the decades, including student protests in 1999, mass demonstrations over a disputed election outcome in 2009, demonstrations over economic hardships in 2019, and the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022.

The 2022 protests, sparked by the killing of a young woman in the custody of Iran’s Islamic morality police, drew a large variety of people onto the streets, with men and women, old and young, rich and poor.

They were ultimately suppressed, with hundreds of people reported killed and thousands imprisoned, but authorities also subsequently ceded some ground with women now routinely disobeying public dress codes.

At least 62 people are reported to have been killed and 2,300 detained during weeks of protests initially sparked by anger over the country’s ailing economy.

Iran’s leaders have also shut down access to the internet and international telephone calls in response to the protests.

In a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, the Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces’ and ‘strongly’ condemned the killing of protesters.

The leaders added: ‘The Iranian authorities have the responsibility to protect their own population and must allow for the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal.

‘We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, to refrain from violence, and to uphold the fundamental rights of Iran’s citizens.’

Earlier, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the Iranian regime was ‘doing what authoritarian governments always do when they are afraid’ and ‘trying to silence the truth’ by blocking internet access.

She said: ‘A regime that represses its own people, crushes rights and strips away basic freedoms is the same regime that exports terror, funds extremism and threatens stability far beyond its borders. Even here in Britain, Iran is trying to murder its political opponents.

‘We stand with the Iranian people who want a secular, democratic future for Iran.’

Protests in Iran began on December 28 and have transformed into the most significant challenge to the regime for several years.

Action has included chants in support of Iran’s pre-revolution leader, the shah, whose son Reza Pahlavi has called for further protests.

The demonstrations have also renewed the confrontation between Iran and the US, with President Donald Trump warning that Tehran would ‘pay hell’ if the authorities killed protesters.