Iran protests newest: Tehran threatens protesters with demise penalty as casualties climb

Iranian authorities have intensified a crackdown on protests across the country, threatening participants with the death penalty and maintaining a nationwide internet blackout ahead of expected further unrest.

A Tehran prosecutor later warned that those accused of damaging public property during the unrest could face the death penalty, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also issued a statement calling the situation “unacceptable” and said it reserved the right to avenge what it described as “terrorist incidents”.

This comes as US president Donald Trump warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the US will “start shooting” if demonstrators in Iran are targeted by government forces as nationwide protests demanding regime change continued into their 13th day.

Reza Pahlavi has called on Iranians to escalate protests against the Islamic Republic, urging nationwide strikes and a larger street presence on Saturday.

In a social media post on X, he addressed his “dear compatriots,” and wrote that their actions were a “resounding response to the threats of the treacherous and criminal leader of the Islamic Republic”.

He called on workers in key sectors, including transport, oil, gas, and energy, to begin a nationwide strike aimed at cutting off the state’s financial lifelines.

“Our goal is no longer merely to come to the streets; the goal is to prepare for seizing the centers of cities and holding them,” he wrote, according to an online translation of his original Arabic text.

“To achieve this goal, move toward the more central parts of the cities from different routes as much as possible and connect separate crowds. At the same time, prepare now to stay in the streets and gather the necessary supplies.”

He said he was preparing to return to Iran, adding that he believed change was “very near”.

As I watch protesters risk everything by taking to the streets, I believe the regime is collapsing under the weight of its own cruelty – but my brave countryfolk urgently need the UK’s support, says British-Iranian dissident Vahid Beheshti

Donald Trump warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the US will “start shooting” if demonstrators in Iran are targeted by government forces.

Trump said that the head of the Islamic Republic is “looking to go someplace” to escape, adding that Iran is on the “verge of collapse”.

“Nobody’s ever seen anything like what’s happening right now, but I have put Iran on notice that if they start shooting at them – these people are totally unarmed people, and they love their country,” he said in an interview with Sean Hannity for Fox News.

“They want something to happen. Look at their country. They’ve gone back 150 years. But I’ve warned them that if they do anything bad to these people, we’re going to hit them very hard. I’ve said it very loud and very clear, that’s what we’re going to do.”

He later warned Iran’s leaders that they “better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too”.

Iran’s Islamic regime looks to be tottering. In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to express their anger at worsening economic conditions, sparked by international sanctions that have seen their currency collapse and the cost of basic goods shoot up.

At least 38 protesters demanding regime change have been killed so far in violent clashes with police, and 2,200 arrested. Faced with what is fast becoming one of the biggest challenges ever to Iran and its clerical leadership, the ayatollahs – in a rare moment of weakness – pulled the plug on the internet, as government buildings in Tehran were set on fire.

Of course, the Islamic Republic has survived protest waves in the past. In 2009, allegations of election fraud sparked massive street protests and a hugely brutal response by Ayatollah Khamenei’s security forces. In 2022, more than 500 people were reportedly killed in protests after the death in police custody of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for refusing to wear the obligatory headscarf.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed support for protesters in Iran, amid a wave of nationwide protests over worsening economic conditions.

“The United States supports the brave people of Iran,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Protests that began on 28 December have spread across multiple cities, with demonstrators chanting slogans against the clerical leadership and calling for political change.

Authorities have responded with force in some areas and imposed a nationwide internet and telephone blackout, limiting communication and independent reporting on events inside the country.

Iran’s unremittingly harsh leadership faces one of the most serious challenges to its theocratic rule since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. After weeks of nationwide protests, the ayatollahs’ spell could soon be broken – which is how counter-revolutions begin, and governments fall

Several rights and press freedom organisations have condemned Iran’s ongoing nationwide internet blackout amid protests, saying it violates fundamental rights and hinders independent reporting.

Rebecca White, a researcher at Amnesty’s Security Lab, said: “The Iranian authorities have once again deliberately blocked internet access inside Iran to hide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out..This blanket internet shutdown not only hides human rights violations but amounts to a serious human rights violation in itself.”

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed “deep concern” for Iranian journalists, citing the nationwide blackout, threats against reporters and recent arrests.

“This increasingly intimidating climate cannot be tolerated,” Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East desk said, calling for the immediate restoration of telecommunications and the release of 24 detained journalists.

Buildings, buses, and shops have been burned to the ground turning Iran’s capital Tehran into a “war zone” as protests break out across the country demanding the fall of the country’s supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khameini.

This unrest follows a tumultuous period for Tehran, which is still recovering from a 12-day conflict in June, initiated by Israel, that saw US forces bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.

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