Protest Rock Iran As Government Cuts Internet And Telephone Lines
Protests spread across Iran late Thursday as demonstrators gathered in Tehran and other cities following a call for mass action by exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, witnesses said.
Residents in the capital were seen shouting slogans from their homes and rallying in the streets. Internet access and telephone lines were cut shortly after the protests began, according to reports by The Associated Press. Internet monitoring firm Cloudflare and advocacy group NetBlocks reported widespread outages, attributing them to government interference.
The demonstrations marked a sharp escalation in nationwide unrest driven largely by anger over Iran’s worsening economic conditions. They also represented the first major test of whether Pahlavi, whose father fled the country ahead of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, could influence events inside Iran.
Protests had already erupted Wednesday in cities and rural towns, with markets and bazaars closing in several areas in solidarity with demonstrators. At least 41 people have been killed and more than 2,270 detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The expanding unrest has increased pressure on Iran’s civilian government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Attempts to call landlines and mobile phones from abroad, including from Dubai, failed to connect — a step that has previously preceded harsher crackdowns.
Despite the scale of the demonstrations, the movement has remained largely leaderless. Analysts say this has historically undermined protest movements in Iran. Nate Swanson of the Atlantic Council wrote that while Iran has many dissident activists, the country’s security apparatus has systematically arrested, persecuted or forced into exile potential transformational leaders.
Pahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. local time on Thursday and Friday. Witnesses said chanting erupted across Tehran neighborhoods at the appointed hour, including slogans such as “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Some demonstrators praised the former monarchy, shouting, “This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!”
In a statement, Pahlavi urged continued protests, calling on Iranians to “take to the streets” and warning authorities that the world was watching. He said suppression of protesters “will not go unanswered.”
Iranian authorities appeared to take the unrest seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify demonstrators. Officials have not acknowledged the overall scale of the protests, though state and semi-official media have reported casualties among security forces.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency said a police colonel died from stab wounds outside Tehran. The semi-official Fars news agency reported that gunmen killed two security personnel and wounded 30 others in Lordegan, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. A deputy governor in Khorasan Razavi province said five people were killed in an attack on a police station in Chenaran, while the Revolutionary Guard reported that two of its members were killed in Kermanshah.
Iran has faced repeated waves of nationwide protests in recent years. Following tightened sanctions and economic strain after a brief war earlier this year, the rial collapsed in December to about 1.4 million to the dollar, fueling renewed demonstrations and anti-government chants.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States would “come to their rescue.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected the comments, calling them hypocritical and accusing Washington of longstanding interference in Iran’s internal affairs.
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned following her arrest in December. Her son, Ali Rahmani, said the protests reflect longstanding demands to end Iran’s theocratic system, echoing previous uprisings in 2009 and 2019.
