Iran’s security forces have intensified their crackdown on nationwide protests, with the elite Revolutionary Guards warning that safeguarding security is a “red line”, as unrest continued across the country.
Rights groups say the violence has killed dozens of people and led to thousands of arrests.
Iranian rights group HRANA said it had documented 65 deaths as of 9 January, including 50 protesters and 15 members of the security forces.
The Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said more than 2,500 people had been arrested during the unrest.
Unrest continued overnight, according to state media, which reported that a municipal building was set on fire in Karaj, west of Tehran. State television broadcast footage of funerals for members of the security forces it said were killed in clashes in Shiraz, Qom and Hamedan.
A witness in western Iran, reached by phone, said Revolutionary Guards forces were deployed in the area and had opened fire. The witness declined to be identified for safety reasons.
A doctor in north-western Iran said hospitals had received large numbers of injured protesters since Friday, including people with gunshot wounds, head injuries and broken limbs.
In a statement broadcast on state television, the Revolutionary Guards accused what they described as “terrorist groups” of targeting military and law enforcement facilities over recent nights, killing several citizens and security personnel and damaging public property.
The regular army said it would protect national interests, strategic infrastructure and public property.
Senior Iranian official Ali Larijani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said the protests amounted to a security crisis directed from abroad and accused Iran’s adversaries of seeking to polarise society and weaken national unity.
Larijani said Iran was operating in conditions of neither peace nor ceasefire and argued that creating a new internal crisis under such circumstances was “irrational”. He said the unrest had gone beyond economic grievances, citing attacks on what he described as national and religious symbols, and said security agencies had identified and arrested key organisers.
Iranian authorities accuse the United States and Israel of fomenting the unrest, claims both countries deny.
Authorities have imposed widespread internet restrictions, sharply limiting the flow of information out of Iran.
Analysts say the measures are intended to control the flow of information and limit international scrutiny.
Speaking to AnewZ, Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said: “They want to shut down that line of communication. Preventing the flow of information is, frankly, a form of damage control.Images of people being shot or of casualties would make life much harder for the regime. The authorities are also acutely aware that, for the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic, an American president has openly said the United States could intervene if protesters are killed in large numbers.”
International reactions have intensified. U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran’s leaders that Washington would respond if protesters were fired upon. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States supported what he called the “brave people of Iran”.
Trump also said he was not inclined to meet exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, who has called on supporters to prepare to seize city centres and urged workers in key sectors to strike.
France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement condemning the killing of protesters and urging Iranian authorities to show restraint. The United Nations said it was disturbed by the loss of life and reiterated the right to peaceful protest.
The protests began nearly two weeks ago over soaring inflation but have since taken on a political dimension, with demonstrators calling for an end to clerical rule.
Iran’s clerical leadership has faced repeated waves of unrest in the past, but analysts say the current protests represent one of the most serious internal challenges in years, as the country grapples with a struggling economy, years of sanctions and the aftermath of last year’s conflict.
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