Protests sweep Iran amid internet blackout and state TV warning of casualties
Iranian state media breaks silence on protests as internet and phone access is restricted amid widening unrest
Iran’s supreme leader signalled on Friday that security forces would crack down on protesters after they screamed from windows and marched through the streets overnight, directly challenging US President Donald Trump’s pledge to support those peacefully demonstrating.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television.
Protesters are “ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States,” Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”
There was no immediate response from Washington, though Trump has repeated his pledge to strike Iran if protesters are killed, a threat that’s taken on greater significance after the US military raid that seized Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas into Friday morning. Iranian state media alleged “terrorist agents” of the US and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were “casualties”, without elaborating.