Iran’s government has warned that it will retaliate if attacked by the United States, after Washington threatened its leadership amid intense protests rocking the Islamic republic.
On Saturday night, protesters defied government repression.
Videos verified by the BBC and eyewitness accounts showed that security forces had intensified their response to the demonstrations.
Iran’s attorney general declared that anyone who protests would be considered an “enemy of God,” a crime that carries the death penalty.
US President Donald Trump threatened to harshly punish Iran’s leaders if they “start killing people.”
For his part, the speaker of the Iranian parliament warned the US that if it attacked Iran, Israel and all US military bases in the region would be legitimate targets.
The protests, triggered by uncontrolled inflation, have spread to more than 100 cities and towns in all the country’s provinces. Now, protesters are demanding an end to the clerical rule of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei has called the protesters “a bunch of vandals” seeking to “please” Trump.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke in similar terms, blaming the US and Israel for the riots.
“They have trained certain people inside and outside the country, they have brought terrorists into the country, they have burned mosques and they have attacked markets and guilds in Rasht, burning down the bazaar,” he declared without providing evidence.
Trump, meanwhile, affirmed on Saturday that his country “is ready to help” as Iran “seeks freedom.”
Victims on the rise
As protests intensify, the number of deaths and injuries continues to rise, according to human rights organizations. Two of them have reported more than 100 deaths, including members of the security forces.
Staff at several hospitals told the BBC that they are overwhelmed by the injured and dead. The BBC Persian service verified 70 bodies taken to a hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday night and a health professional reported the death of some 38 people in a hospital in Tehran.
Iran’s police chief declared on state television that the level of clashes with protesters has escalated, with arrests Saturday night of what he called “key figures.”
The official blamed a “significant proportion of the deaths” on “trained and directed individuals,” rather than security forces, but gave no specific details.
More than 2,500 people have been arrested since the protests began on December 28, according to a human rights group.
In the dark
The BBC and most international media outlets are banned from reporting from Iran, and the government has imposed an internet blackout since Thursday, making it difficult to obtain and verify information.
However, some images have emerged and the BBC has spoken to people in the country.
Several recordings, confirmed as recent by BBC Verify, show clashes between protesters and security forces in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city.
In the videos, masked protesters can be seen taking cover behind containers and bonfires, while a line of security forces can be seen in the distance. A vehicle that appears to be a bus is engulfed in flames.
In the recordings, multiple gunshots and what appear to be banging of pots and pans are heard.
A figure on a nearby pedestrian bridge appears to fire multiple shots in various directions while a couple of people take cover behind a fence.
In Tehran, verified video from Saturday night shows protesters taking to the streets of the Gisha district.
Other verified footage from the capital shows a large group of protesters and the banging of pots and pans in Punak Square, as well as a crowd marching down a street demanding an end to the clerical system in the Heravi district.
Internet access in Iran is largely limited to a national intranet, with restricted connections to the outside world. However, during the current round of protests, authorities have severely restricted the national intranet for the first time.
An expert told the BBC Persian service that the blockade is more severe than that recorded during the 2022 demonstrations.
Alireza Manafi, an internet researcher, said the only likely way to connect overseas was through Starlink satellite internet, but warned users to be careful as such connections could be tracked by the US government.
Preparing an attack?
On Saturday, Trump wrote on social media: “Iran seeks freedom, perhaps like never before. The US is ready to help!”
He did not give further details, but US media reported that Trump had received information about options for military strikes in the country.
The diaries The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that the briefings had taken place, and the WSJ described them as “preliminary talks.” An anonymous official told the WSJ that there was no “imminent threat” to Iran.
Last year, the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
On Sunday, Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah (king) of Iran, who lives in the US and whose return protesters have been calling for, posted a video on X.
“Your countrymen around the world shout with pride… In particular, President Trump, as the leader of the free world, has closely observed your indescribable bravery and announced that he is ready to help you,” he said.
And he added: “I know that soon I will be by his side.”
Pahlavi claimed that the Islamic Republic was facing a “serious shortage of mercenaries” and that “many armed and security forces had abandoned their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the population.” The BBC was unable to verify these claims.
The heir to the throne encouraged people to continue protests on Sunday night, but to remain in groups or with crowds and not “endanger their lives.”
Alarming reports
Amnesty International stated that it was analyzing “concerning reports indicating that security forces have escalated the unlawful use of lethal force against protesters” since Thursday.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said those demonstrating against Khamenei’s government should not face “the threat of violence or reprisals.”
At least 162 protesters and 41 security agents have died in the last two weeks, according to the US-based organization Activists for Human Rights in Iran.
The organization Human Rights Iran, based in Norway, reported the deaths of at least 192 protesters.
“The killing of protesters over the past three days, particularly following the nationwide internet blackout, could be even more extensive than we imagined,” said the group’s director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
The BBC Persian service has confirmed the identity of 26 deceased people, including six children.
The protests have been the most widespread since the 2022 demonstrations sparked by the death, while in police custody, of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by the moral police for apparently not wearing the hijab or Islamic veil correctly.
More than 550 people were killed and 20,000 were detained by security forces for several months, according to human rights organizations.
*With additional information from Soroush Pakzad and Roja Assadi.
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